THE GUARDIAN: Heather Humphreys concedes defeat after early vote tallies show insurmountable gap between candidates
The leftwing independent candidate, Catherine Connolly, has won a landslide victory in Ireland’s presidential election.
Her rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded defeat on Saturday afternoon after early vote tallies showed an insurmountable gap between the candidates.
“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,” Humphreys said.
Reports from tallymen – unofficial but usually reliable observers at count centres – gave Connolly 64% of the vote after two-thirds of ballots were counted.
Connolly 68, captured the imagination of many younger people and was backed by an alliance of leftwing opposition parties in Friday’s election.
The presidency is a largely ceremonial office but Connolly’s triumph is a humbling rebuke to the centre-right government. » | Rory Carroll, Ireland correspondent | Saturday, October 25, 2025
