Heather Humphreys leads race for Áras, latest poll shows

Over one fifth of people say they would vote for Heather Humphreys to become president, according to the latest opinion poll.

Some 22 per cent of 1,000 respondents in the Business Post/RED C poll gave their first preference to the Fine Gael candidate.

Former Dublin manager and Fianna Fáil hopeful Jim Gavin received 18 per cent of first preference votes, while Independent candidate Catherine Connolly received 17 per cent.

Conservative activist Maria Steen, who is hopeful of securing the backing of 20 Oireachtas members, is polling at 5 per cent.

The poll result comes after Ms Humphreys admitted that she attended Orange Order parades as a child but stopped going when the Troubles broke out.

The Fine Gael candidate, who is a Presbyterian, said she would now vote for Irish unity and that she was an example to unionists of Irish “tolerance and inclusivity”.

Ms Humphreys launched her campaign in her home county of Monaghan on Saturday.

In a speech to party members, she talked about how her grandfather had signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912 – an oath of resistance signed by hundreds of thousands of unionists against home rule on the island of Ireland.

Speaking to the media, she referenced her Protestant heritage as she said she wanted to “reach out” to communities in North.

Asked if she would use the office of president to advocate for Irish unity, she said: “What I want to do is convince people that this is a safe place, this is a good country, this is a safe place when it comes to your culture, when it comes to your identity.

“You will be respected.

“I will work towards that but only on the basis that we bring people together and try to break down those divisions that still exist.

“I’ve been up in the North many, many times and when you scratch back the surface, there are deep divisions there and we have to really, really hard on that so that one day we will have a united people and a united Ireland.”

The presidential election will be held on Friday, October 24th.

Former Dublin Gaelic football manager Jim Gavin is the Fianna Fáil candidate, while independent candidate Catherine Connolly has secured the backing of a number of smaller parties.

Sinn Féin has not yet decided if it will run a candidate in the election.