Early tallies indicate resounding victory for leftwinger as voters deliver humbling rebuke to government
The leftwing independent Catherine Connolly is on track to win Ireland’s presidential election, according to early vote tallies.
Reports from tallymen – unofficial but usually reliable observers at count centres – gave Connolly a wide lead on Saturday soon after ballot boxes were opened at 9am.
Opinion polls had predicted a landslide for Connolly, 68, who 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 victory for Connolly, a member of parliament from Galway, would be a humbling rebuke to the centre-right government.
