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Irish voters looked set to have elected left-winger Catherine Connolly to be the country’s new president, after her only rival conceded defeat on Saturday in a contest marred by unprecedented spoiled voting and low turnout. After hours of counting following Friday’s ballot, Connolly, an independent, was on course for a landslide victory, prompting the centrist Fine Gael party’s candidate Heather Humphreys to congratulate her on “becoming the next president of Ireland”. But the apparent win by 68-year-old Connolly was marred by a record number of spoiled ballots and other voters failing to turn up, amid frustration at the lack of right-wing options and issues including immigration and crime. A lawyer and outspoken critic of both the United States and European Union, Connolly’s election to a post with limited political power could nonetheless herald an era of increased friction between Ireland’s largely ceremonial presidency and government. Deputy Prime Minister and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris was quick to wish Connolly “every success”, adding “she will be President for all this country”. “Her success will be Ireland’s success,” he posted on social media. The official result was expected late on Saturday. Many polling stations reported turnout below 40 per cent and potentially more than one in eight voters having spoiled their ballots, according to The Irish Times newspaper. Conservative figures had urged voters to mar their voting paper in protest at the contest being a two-horse race and other issues. Like neighbouring Britain, Ireland has seen an increasingly divisive debate over an influx of asylum seekers, sparking sometimes violent protests, including outside facilities used to house them. More than 3.6 million people were eligible to vote to choose the successor to 84-year-old Michael Higgins, who has held the primarily symbolic post since 2011. A slew of celebrities also considered running – including mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor, singer Bob Geldof and dancer Michael Flatley – but their campaigns failed to materialise. A conservative Catholic candidate who appeared able to muster double-digit support in polling almost made the ballot but fell short of gaining enough parliamentary backing. That sparked anger about the nomination rules and prompted early calls to “spoil your vote”. Connolly and Humphreys ended up as the only effective choices after another candidate representing the centrist Fianna Fail – the larger party in Ireland’s governing coalition with Fine Gael – quit the race. He remained on ballot papers because he only announced his withdrawal earlier this month. A recent poll suggested 49 per cent of voters did not feel represented by the two candidates on offer. Connolly, a lawmaker since 2016 and supported by left-wing parties including Sinn Fein, had surged ahead in opinion polls in recent weeks. “She speaks for the regular person,” Una Corcoran, 62, said after voting in Connolly’s home city of Galway, western Ireland. Some predict the charismatic anti-establishment figure’s stridently left-wing views on foreign policy, social justice and housing could cause friction with the government. Irish-language-speaking and, like many in Ireland, vehemently pro-Palestinian and in favour of reunifying the country with the UK territory Northern Ireland, she has voiced unease at Europe’s growing military spending. Political analyst Pat Leahy called her election a “disastrous day” for the two parties currently governing. “How she navigates the relationship with a government she so clearly believes is pursuing the wrong policies now brings a new uncertainty – and possibly conflict – into Irish politics,” he wrote in the Irish Times. Trinity College Dublin politics professor Lisa Keenan said the left-wing unity behind Connolly signals parties on that flank have serious hopes to “end the dominance” of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. Their ultimate aim is to “exclude them from government for the first time in the history of the state”, she noted. Keenan added the record low turnout and spoiled ballots also showed “a large segment of the electorate was extremely dissatisfied with the range of candidates on offer” and “a lacklustre campaign”.
