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LONDON: Voters in Ireland went to the polls Friday to elect one of two women as their new president for the next seven years, a largely ceremonial role in the European Union member country.
Catherine Connolly, a left-wing independent lawmaker who has the backing of Sinn Féin and is known for her strong stance against Israel, is widely seen as the leading candidate to become the head of state. The latest polls show she holds a significant lead with about 40 percent of support from voters, ahead of the 20 percent to 25 percent for her rival Heather Humphreys, representing center-right party Fine Gael.
The two are the only contenders after Jim Gavin, the candidate for Prime Minister Micheál Martin’sFianna Fail party, quit the race earlier this month over a long-ago financial dispute. Others — including musician Bob Geldof and the former mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor — failed to receive enough backing for a nomination.
The winner will succeed Michael D. Higgins, who has been president since 2011, having served the maximum two seven-year terms. Connolly or Humphreys will be Ireland’s 10th president and the third woman to hold the post.
Here’s what to know about the election:
Parties on the left back Connolly
Connolly, 68, is a former barrister who has been an independent lawmaker since 2016. She has drawn criticism for her views on Palestinians and the militant group Hamas, among other issues.
She was previously seen as an unlikely presidential candidate, but became the front-runner after Gavin dropped out. Though Gavin stopped campaigning, his name remains on the ballot paper.
In September, Martin criticized Connolly’s comments that called Hamas “part of the fabric of the Palestinian people,” saying she appeared reluctant to condemn the militant group’s actions in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that ignited the two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. She later maintained that she “utterly condemned” Hamas’ actions, while also criticizing Israel for carrying out what she said was a genocide in Gaza.
Opponents have said she risked alienating Ireland’s allies after she warned about the EU’s growing “militarization.” Some have also questioned her past role as a lawyer representing banks that repossessed people’s homes.
Connolly has garnered endorsements from left-leaning parties, including Sinn Féin, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats.
She said this week she “will be an absolutely independent president with an independent mind.” Her campaign website says she “wants to be a president for all the people, especially for those often excluded and silenced” and a “voice for equality and justice.”
Connolly began her political career when she was elected as a local political representative on the Galway City Council in 1999. Five years later, she was elected mayor of the city of Galway.
Humphreys stresses centrist approach
Humphreys, 64, has been in government for more than a decade, formerly serving in several Cabinet positions where she oversaw arts and heritage, business and rural development.
She was first elected as a local politician in 2004 and was a member of parliament from 2011 until 2024. She has stressed that she is a pro-business, pro-EU candidate.
Raised a Presbyterian in the mostly Catholic country, she said she would strive for unity and “build bridges” with communities in Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK and has a large Protestant population.
“I’m a center-ground person. I’m a middle-of-the-road person, like most Irish people,” she said in this week’s final presidential debate.
While Humphreys underlined her years of experience in government, Connolly criticized her as a representation of “more of the same,” saying she is aligned with the outlook of recent governments.
The president’s role
Ireland’s president plays an important ceremonial and constitutional role and represents the Irish state on the world stage.
The president appoints the prime minister, called the Taoiseach, after a vote in parliament, as well as other government officials and judges on the government’s advice.
The president also signs into law bills passed by lawmakers, and can call fresh elections if the prime minister no longer has the support of lawmakers.
While the role does not have the power to shape laws or policies, past presidents have been known to air their views on important issues. Higgins has spoken out on the war in Gaza and NATO spending, among other things.
When results will be known
Polls close at 10 p.m. (2100GMT) Friday. Counting begins Saturday, and the result is likely to be known by late Saturday.
The new president will be inaugurated at a ceremony in Dublin Castle the day after.

KUALA LUMPUR: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took a swipe Saturday at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, saying they “stopped working” and failed to protect Gaza’s war victims.
Lula was speaking after meeting Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, ahead of a major regional summit where the Brazilian leader would likely meet US President Donald Trump.
“Who can accept the genocide that has been going on in the Gaza Strip for so long?” Lula told reporters after the bilateral meeting to deepen ties between the two nations.
“The multilateral institutions that were created to try to prevent these things from happening have stopped working. Today, the UN Security Council and the UN no longer function,” Lula said.
Lula also appeared to take a swipe at Trump, saying “for a leader, walking with their head held high is more important than a Nobel Prize.”
Trump departed Washington Friday for Asia and high-stakes talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday, the last day of his trip.
But first, the US president is expected to witness the signing of a peace deal between Thailand and Cambodia on Sunday, which he – in part – helped to broker.
The White House lashed out this month at the Norwegian Nobel Committee after it awarded the peace prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and overlooked Trump.
Since returning to the White House for his second term in January, Trump had repeatedly insisted that he deserved the Nobel for his role in resolving numerous conflicts – a claim observers say is broadly exaggerated.
Meanwhile, Trump and Lula have begun to patch up their differences after months of bad blood over the trial and conviction of Trump’s ally, the far-right former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro.
Trump has instituted a 50-percent tariff on many Brazilian products and imposed sanctions on several top officials, including a top Supreme Court judge, to punish Brazil for what he termed a “witch hunt” against Bolsonaro.
Brazil’s Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro in September to 27 years in prison for his role in a botched coup bid after his 2022 election loss to Lula.
But relations between Trump and Lula began to thaw when the two 79-year-old leaders had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September.
They then spoke by phone on October 6 and first raised the possibility of meeting at the ASEAN summit.