Irish voters are going to the polls to elect a new president, with final opinion polls predicting a landslide for Catherine Connolly, an outspoken leftwing independent who has captured the imagination of many younger people.
Turnout appeared to be sluggish by mid-afternoon on Friday but polling stations were to remain open until 10pm.
Connolly, 68, arriving by bicycle, voted at Claddagh, a district in her native city of Galway. “I had a swim this morning, that sort of calmed me down,” she told reporters. She said she planned to “hide away” for the rest of the day.
Heather Humphreys, 62, a former cabinet minister who is running for the ruling centre-right party Fine Gael, voted in Newbliss, in the border county of Monaghan, and was accompanied by her one-year-old granddaughter. “Job done. Thank you to my little granddaughter Charlotte for the help,” she said.
An opinion poll on Thursday gave Connolly 40% compared with 25% for her opponent. When the figures were adjusted for those who were undecided or planned to spoil their vote, Connolly had 55% and Humphreys 35%.
Two polls earlier this week also gave Connolly a wide lead in the race to succeed Michael D Higgins, who has served two seven-year terms, and become Ireland’s 10th president.
Almost half of voters say they do not feel represented by either candidate, raising concerns about a low turnout and high rate of spoilt ballots.
“I’ll be spoiling my vote,” said Karen, 35, who declined to give a surname, outside a polling station in Dún Laoghaire, south Dublin. “I’ve never done that before but I’m not excited about either candidate. I wanted more candidates on the ballot. I’m disheartened.”
Muireann Ní Dhrisceoil, 23, voted for Connolly. “The fact she can speak Irish is important. And that she’s pro-Palestinian. I feel that she’s aligned with my values.”
However her father, Micheál, 68, voted for Humphreys. “Humphreys is a very limp candidate but Connolly is populist and I don’t like her demeanour. It will cause friction with the government.”
The presidency is a largely ceremonial office, but victory for Connolly, a member of parliament from Galway, would be a humbling rebuke to the centre-right government. It would also mark a triumph for an alliance of opposition leftwing parties – Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and the Greens – who forged a rare unity to jointly campaign for Connolly.
The former clinical psychologist and barrister, until recently a marginal political figure, enthused young people through podcasts and posts that went viral on social media. Artists and musicians such as Kneecap and the Mary Wallopers have endorsed her.
Connolly espouses equality and wishes to ringfence Irish neutrality from what she calls western “militarism”. She has compared Germany’s arms spending to the Nazi era and accused the UK and US of enabling genocide in Gaza. Critics depict her as a radical who could damage Ireland’s relations with European allies.
Irish presidents traditionally played quiet, symbolic roles but since 1990 Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and Higgins have turned the office into a more visible platform to champion plurality, reconciliation with Northern Ireland and ethical foreign policy.
Connolly has promised to respect the limits of the office if she is installed in Áras an Uachtaráin, the presidential residence in Phoenix Park, but supporters hope she will continue to speak out on the housing crisis, hospital waiting lists and foreign affairs.
“The interaction between government and the Áras may be about to enter a new and distinctly less congenial phase,” said the Irish Times.
Nomination rules and blunders by the ruling centre-right coalition created a two-horse race that gave Connolly an edge.
Celebrities such as Bob Geldof, Michael Flatley, Conor McGregor and other would-be candidates failed to win the backing from four local councils, or 20 legislators, needed to get their names on the ballot. Geldof said that if nominated he would have “walked it” and been a “really good” president.
Fianna Fáil fielded a political novice, Jim Gavin, who withdrew after a financial scandal imploded his campaign. The late withdrawal means his name remains on the ballot.
Fine Gael’s original candidate, Mairead McGuinness, dropped out, citing health problems, so the party turned to Humphreys, 62, a border county Presbyterian deemed to have mainstream appeal. However, she performed badly in debates and was tainted by association with the government, which is blamed for a housing shortage and cost of living crisis.
Counting of votes will begin at 9am on Saturday and the result is expected in the afternoon. The eligible electorate is 3.6 million.
