Catherine Connolly has been elected the 10th President of Ireland.
The independent candidate, who was backed by a number of left-wing parties, beat Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys comfortably by 63.3% to Ms Humphreys’ 29.5%.
Jim Gavin, who was set to run on the Fianna Fáil ticket before sensationally withdrawing from the race, still received a number of votes since he was still on the ballot due to a technicality — with him ending up with 7.2% of the vote.
The number of spoiled votes was also unprecedented compared to previous elections, with 213,738 of the votes being spoiled. Some of the boxes in some constituencies, particularly in parts of Dublin where Ms Humphreys was expected to do well, had more spoiled votes than votes for her — but Ms Connolly ended up the winner in those constituencies.
Ms Humphreys conceded the election to Ms Connolly shortly after 2pm as counts continued, with her congratulating Ms Connolly on her victory.
October 25,2025: Independent winning presidential candidate supported by a united left alliance Catherine Connolly with Sinn Fein and Labour Party leaders Mary Lou McDonald and Ivana Bacik while arriving in Dublin Castle after today's victory. (RollingNews.ie)
Speaking on her campaign, which saw her questioned about fox-hunting and her husband’s ties to the Orange Order, Ms Humphreys said that she has ‘not one regret’ about her campaign — and said that Ms Connolly would be ‘a President for all.’
‘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,’ Ms Humphreys said. ‘I have no regrets, I stepped up the plate. Absolutely not one regret and I’m glad I did it.’
Presidential candidates Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys on RTE's "Prime Time". (RollingNews.ie)
Since she’ll be going back to retirement from politics — having come out of retirement to contest the election, Ms Humphreys said ‘I’m very fond of my garden… and I have a seven-week-old grandson I haven’t seen enough of.’
Ms Connolly was endorsed by a number of left-wing parties, including Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, Labour and People Before Profit.
“My message is use your voice in every way you can, because a republic and a democracy needs constructive questioning, and together we can shape a new republic that values everybody.” - President-Elect Catherine Connolly. pic.twitter.com/Go6D2SIdzm
— Connolly for President (@catherinegalway) October 25, 2025
Ms Humphreys was chosen as the candidate for Fine Gael following the withdrawal of Mairead McGuinness on health grounds, with her beating second favourite Seán Kelly in the contest to select the candidate for Fine Gael.
Despite rumours that Billy Kelleher and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern would fly the flag for Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin’s party chose former Dublin manager and five-in-a-row winner Jim Gavin as their candidate.
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However, he sensationally withdrew from the race following controversy over his failure to repay a tenant from 2009 who accidentally sent him €3,300.
Despite Mr Gavin’s withdrawal from the race, he remained on the ballot as it was too late to take him off.
* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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