Independent Left-wing politician Catherine Connolly wins Ireland's Presidential election

London, Oct 26 (IANS) Independent politician Catherine Connolly has won Ireland's Presidential election and will serve as the country's 10th President after receiving 63.36 per cent of first preference votes, according to official results released.

The 68-year-old candidate, backed by several Left-wing parties, including Sinn Fein, competed with Fine Gael's Heather Humphreys, a former Government Minister, in the election that began on Friday.

The results released on late Saturday evening show a landslide for Connolly, as was predicted by opinion polls, with 914,143 first preference votes.

Humphreys, who won 29.46 per cent of first preference votes, has congratulated Connolly on becoming "a President for all of us" on Saturday afternoon, before the full results were released, Xinhua news agency reported.

A third candidate on the ballot, the Fianna Fail-backed Jim Gavin, withdrew from the race earlier in October following a controversy over a rental dispute.

Connolly has served as a member of Parliament for the Galway West constituency since 2016, and previously worked as a psychologist and barrister.

She became the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament's Lower House in 2020, the first woman ever to hold the post.

Connolly will be sworn in to succeed incumbent President Michael D. Higgins, who is set to complete the second of his two consecutive seven-year terms in November.

Connolly said during the presidential poll campaign that she would respect the limits of the office, which some interpreted as a tacit promise to rein in controversial views, but analysts predicted friction with the government.

She was a marginal political figure when she declared her candidacy in July, and only small parties -- the Social Democrats and People Before Profit -- backed her. Labour then endorsed her, and Sinn Fein, which had decided to not run its own candidate, threw its formidable resources and electoral organisation behind Connolly.

Higgins, who has been President for 14 years, congratulated Connolly in a phone call.

"The President-elect will have the full support of this office as she prepares for her inauguration next month," he said in a statement.

The Presidency is a largely ceremonial office but Connolly's victory was a stinging rebuke to the Centre-right government.

--IANS

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