Landslide win for Catherine Connolly as she becomes Ireland’s 10th President

A landslide victory for Catherine Connolly as she becomes Ireland's tenth president

The independent candidate was declared Ireland's next president at Dublin Castle this evening.

Votes from all 43 constituencies have been counted, with Connolly winning 63.4% of the vote.

Earlier this afternoon, Fine Gael presidential election candidate Heather Humphreys congratulated Connolly on her victory.

"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.”

Connolly will be following in the footsteps of Douglas Hyde, Seán T O’Kelly, Éamon de Valera, Erskine Childers, Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh, Patrick Hillery, Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese, and Michael D Higgins.

Throughout her campaign, Connolly stressed that she would be a president who listens, and a "reminder of what is possible."

"The Presidency, we are told, is largely symbolic. But symbols matter. And actions taken under those symbols matter even more.

"I believe the President should be a unifying presence—a steady hand, yes, but also a spark. A reminder of what is possible. A moral compass in a world increasingly driven by profit and spectacle. A voice for those too often silenced. That is the role I seek to play.

"I want to be a President who listens. Who travels to every county, not to perform, but to hear. Who brings the Presidency back into the heart of our daily lives.

"The Presidency is not the solution to all our challenges. But it can be a light. A centre of calm. A place where the values of this nation are guarded and renewed."