LIVE: Catherine Connolly ‘absolutely delighted’ as early tallies show commanding lead
Presidential Independent candidate Catherine Connolly was all smiles at the count centre in the Galway Lawn Tennis club. Photo: Ray Ryan
Catherine Connolly is “absolutely delighted” with early tallies indicating she is the clear frontrunner to become Ireland’s next president.
The electorate had the choice between Ms Connolly, former cabinet minister Heather Humphreys and ex-Dublin football manager Jim Gavin, until he withdrew from campaigning three weeks ago.
There also appeared to be a significant number of spoiled votes as the first ballot boxes were opened.
Speaking to reporters in Galway, Ms Connolly said: “I am absolutely delighted with the result and I want to thank all my supporters.
“Actually, I want to thank everybody – even those who did not vote for me.
“I understand their concerns in relation to who will represent them best.” Tallies at Adamstown count centre in the Dublin Mid-West constituency gave Ms Connolly 73% of the valid poll, with a turnout of 43%.
The number of spoiled votes in Adamstown, where Mr Gavin is from, appeared on par with the combined vote for Ms Humphreys and Mr Gavin.
Some of the spoiled votes had messages on them, including “no democracy”, “EU puppets” and “no from me”.
Among the messages on spoiled votes were “Maria Steen”, who failed to get enough nominations to become a candidate, and references to an alleged sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl that sparked anti-immigration demonstrations in west Dublin this week.
Local Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin said the scale of the vote for Ms Connolly was “very, very significant”.
“A huge Catherine Connolly vote here, an absolute collapse not just of the Fianna Fail vote – and that was to be expected – but of the Fine Gael vote as well, (which is) really remarkable in a constituency where Fine Gael used to have two TDs and currently have a sitting junior minister.
“And then of course there is a significant number of spoils, you can’t deny that. And what it tells us is there are people out there who are very angry, who are very unhappy.
“Our job in the time ahead is to try and convince more of those people that there is an alternative, there is a message of hope, and we hear the fact that they are not happy. So there is a job of work to do afterwards.” The winner of the election will replace Michael D Higgins, a popular poet and former arts minister who has served the maximum two terms in office.
Voting slips are being counted by hand at more than 30 count centres, representing 43 electoral constituencies, across the country.
Ireland uses a system of transferable votes in elections but, with only three candidates on the ballot, there can only be a maximum of two counts.
The final result will be officially declared by presidential returning officer Barry Ryan once all 43 constituencies have completed counting.
The leader of the Irish Labour Party said Ms Connolly has united parties “with an alternative vision”.
Ivana Bacik said left-wing parties could now look at how they can “combine together” and “offer a real alternative” in the next general election.
Speaking to the PA news agency at the RDS Simmonscourt count centre in Dublin, she said: “It’s incredible to see this result for Catherine. I want to pay tribute to Catherine and her own team who’ve just led from the front right from the start.
“I’m delighted how enthusiastic the movement has been for Catherine and we’ve really seen that she’s galvanised energy, she’s got a momentum and that was becoming evident over the campaign.” Asked about the high number of spoiled votes, Ms Bacik said: “We do have to take it seriously. We have to look and see what are people’s concerns and why they felt they were not represented by the candidates in this election.” She added: “The level of vitriol directed at people of all political persuasions on some of those spoiled ballots is really alarming to see and I think it means we need to take that anti-democratic threat really seriously.” In the weeks before polling day, several opinion polls put Ms Connolly ahead of Ms Humphreys by some margin.
Ms Connolly cast her vote at a primary school in Claddagh, Co Galway, on Friday after going for a swim that morning.
She took time after voting to examine students’ essays about the presidency that were pinned to the wall, and to take her elderly aunt, who was in a wheelchair, into the polling station, before cycling home.
Ms Humphreys cast her vote in Newbliss, Co Monaghan, with daughter Eva and one-year-old granddaughter Charlotte.
Mr Gavin withdrew from campaigning after the emergence of a 16-year-old dispute with a former tenant.
The ex-army pilot, 54, who was best known for his role as the manager of Dublin’s record-breaking Gaelic football team, which won five successive All-Ireland Championships, withdrew from the race three weeks before polling day.
It came after a former tenant, deputy editor of the Sunday World Niall Donald, claimed he tried to recover 3,300 euro in overpaid rent from Mr Gavin.
Mr Gavin said he had made a mistake “not in keeping with my character” and repaid the money after his withdrawal.
The move has had serious implications for the Fianna Fail party, which selected him as their candidate, and for its leader, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who championed Mr Gavin.
It also had an effect on the election count as his late withdrawal meant there was not enough time to legally remove his name from the ballot paper.
If he were to win the most votes, he would still be elected as president.
It is a largely ceremonial role which involves hosting heads of state at the president’s official residence, Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park, and other diplomatic and civic engagements.
The president must also consider whether legislation passed by the parliament complies with the constitution, and if they believe it does not, in consultation with the Council of State, they can refer it to the Supreme Court.
In recent years, the Irish presidency has become a more political role.
During his tenure, Mr Higgins said Ireland’s housing crisis was “our great, great failure”, that the UN was “losing credibility”, and that the Irish state must “urgently meet the needs of”, and address the concerns of, the survivors of mother and baby homes.
Early tallies indicate that left-wing independent Catherine Connolly is the clear frontrunner to become Ireland’s next president.
There also appeared to be a significant number of spoiled votes as the first ballot boxes were opened.
The electorate had the choice between Ms Connolly, former cabinet minister Heather Humphreys and ex-Dublin football manager Jim Gavin, until he withdrew from campaigning three weeks ago.
Tallies at Adamstown count centre in the Dublin Mid-West constituency gave Ms Connolly 73% of the valid poll, with a turnout of 43%.
The number of spoiled votes in Adamstown, where Mr Gavin is from, appeared on par with the combined vote for Ms Humphreys and Mr Gavin.
Some of the spoiled votes had messages on them, including “no democracy”, “EU puppets” and “no from me”.
Among the messages on spoiled votes were “Maria Steen”, who failed to get enough nominations to become a candidate, and references to an alleged sexual assault on a 10-year-old girl that sparked anti-immigration demonstrations in west Dublin this week.
The winner of the election will replace Michael D Higgins, a popular poet and former arts minister who has served the maximum two terms in office.
Voting slips are being counted by hand at more than 30 count centres, representing 43 electoral constituencies, across the country.
Ireland uses a system of transferable votes in elections but, with only three candidates on the ballot, there can only be a maximum of two counts.
The final result will be officially declared by presidential returning officer Barry Ryan once all 43 constituencies have completed counting.
The counting of votes has begun in Ireland’s presidential election as ballot boxes were opened at 9am.
The electorate had the choice between left-wing independent Catherine Connolly, former Cabinet minister Heather Humphreys and ex-Dublin football manager Jim Gavin, who withdrew from campaigning three weeks ago.
The winner will replace Michael D Higgins, a popular poet and former arts minister, who has served the maximum two terms in office.
Voting slips are being counted by hand at more than 30 count centres, representing 43 electoral constituencies, across the country.
Ireland uses a system of transferable votes in elections but – with only three candidates on the ballot – there can only be a maximum of two counts.
If the gap between Ms Humphreys and Ms Connolly cannot be bridged by Mr Gavin’s votes, the 10th president will be declared after one count.
Although it is possible the outcome of the election will be clear by the afternoon, the final result will only be officially declared by presidential returning officer, Barry Ryan, once all 43 constituencies have completed their counting.
In the weeks before polling day, several opinion polls put Ms Connolly ahead of Ms Humphreys by some margin but the turnout is expected to be crucial to the final result.
The turnout in the 2018 presidential election, where there were six candidates, was 44%.
On Friday, Ms Connolly cast her vote in a primary school in Claddagh, Co Galway, after going for a swim that morning.
She took time after casting her vote to examine students’ essays about the presidency that were pinned to the wall and take her elderly aunt, who was in a wheelchair, into the polling station before cycling home.
Ms Humphreys cast her vote in Newbliss, Co Monaghan, with her daughter Eva and her one-year-old granddaughter Charlotte.
The third presidential candidate, Jim Gavin, created the shock moment of the election when he withdrew from campaigning in response to the emergence of a 16-year-old dispute with a former tenant.
The ex-army pilot, 54, who was best known for his role as the manager of Dublin’s record-breaking Gaelic football team, which won five successive All-Ireland Championships, withdrew from the race three weeks before polling day.
It came after a former tenant, deputy editor of the Sunday World Niall Donald, claimed he tried to recover 3,300 euros in overpaid rent from Mr Gavin.
Mr Gavin said he had made a mistake “not in keeping with my character” and repaid the money after his withdrawal.
The dramatic move has had serious implications for the Fianna Fáil party, who selected him as their candidate, and for its party leader, Taoiseach Micheal Martin, who championed Mr Gavin.
It also had an effect on the election count as his late withdrawal meant there was not enough time to legally remove his name from the ballot paper.
In the hypothetical scenario where he garnered the most votes, he would still be elected as president.
The president of Ireland is a largely ceremonial role which involves hosting other heads of state at the president’s official residence, Aras an Uachtarain in the Phoenix Park, and other diplomatic and civic engagements.
The Irish president must also consider whether legislation passed by the parliament complies with the constitution, and if they believe it does not, in consultation with the Council of State, they can refer it to the Supreme Court.
In recent years, the Irish presidency has become a more political role.
During his tenure, Michael D Higgins has said that Ireland’s housing crisis is “our great, great failure”, that the UN is “losing credibility”, and said in 2021 that the Irish state must “urgently meet the needs of”, and address the concerns of, the survivors of mother and baby homes.
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