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Lef-wing Irish independent Catherine Connolly has said she is 'absolutely delighted' as she is set to become the new president after her rival in the election to replace Michael D Higgins accepted defeat. Ms Connolly, 68, was battling it out against former cabinet minister Heather Humphreys, 62, after third candidate ex-Dublin football manager Jim Gavin withdrew from campaigning three weeks ago - although he remained on the ballot paper. Speaking to reporters in Galway after it became clear on Saturday she would take victory, 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.' She will replace current Irish President Michael D Higgins. Ms Connolly was all but declared the winner after Ms Humphreys conceded defeat on Saturday afternoon, telling Irish broadcaster RTE: 'Catherine will be a president for all of us and she will be my president, and I really would like to wish her all the very, very best. I have absolutely not one regret.' But she added that sectarian comments about her and her family throughout the campaign had been 'very difficult', adding: 'My family and I, but especially my family, were subjected to some absolutely awful sectarian abuse and I was disappointed because as a country I thought we had moved on from that. 'I think there needs to be a greater understanding of other traditions in this country and perhaps that's something that maybe I can contribute towards because there is a lot of misunderstanding out there and if we are ever to have a united Ireland we have to respect all traditions.' Ms Connolly, who speaks Irish, has been a TD - equivalent to an MP in the UK - for Galway West since 2016. Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns also congratulated Catherine Connolly, saying the expected victory is a 'seismic moment in our history'. The Social Democrats were one of a number of parties backing Independent Ms Connolly in the election. She said: 'The momentum behind Catherine's presidential bid was incredible, growing from a small campaign run by dedicated volunteers to the grassroots movement it became. 'From day one, her message of inclusion, equality and social justice resonated with voters in every corner of Ireland. 'Catherine had a clear vision for the presidency and was determined to speak out on issues that mattered to people - housing, cost of living, disability services, climate action, the Irish language and neutrality. 'Catherine's considered, focused and compassionate approach to this campaign was hugely impressive.' Tallies at Adamstown count centre in the Dublin Mid-West constituency gave Ms Connolly 73 percent of the valid poll, with a turnout of 43 percent. But there also appeared to be a significant number of spoiled votes as the first ballot boxes were opened. The number of spoiled votes in Adamstown, where Mr Gavin is from, appeared on par with the combined vote for Ms Humphreys and the local candidate. Mr Gavin withdrew from campaigning for the presidency after newspaper reports emerged of a dispute with a tenant some 16 years ago. 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. Elsewhere, Aontu leader Peadar Toibin revealed he spoiled his vote for the presidential election. Speaking to reporters at the RDS Simmonscourt count centre, Mr Toibin said: 'I'm going to be brutally honest with you, and I feel weird even saying this, I spoiled my vote yesterday.' Mr Toibin said he drew three Xs beside the candidates and wrote in the name of Maria Steen instead. He said: 'I felt really strange doing it, I felt in some way that it was nearly wrong doing it, but I had no choice in that ballot yesterday at all. 'I had no way to exercise a political choice and I wanted to protest that.' Local Sinn Fein TD Eoin O Broin in Adamstown 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 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.
