Sinn Fein back Hamas and citzenry of Ireland responds

LONDON — Ireland, in a cautionary rebuke to the governing establishment, has voted overwhelmingly to elect an outspoken leftist to the country's mostly ceremonial presidency - a landslide victory for an independent lawmaker who has accused NATO of "warmongering" and built her campaign on demands for economic justice at home and fury over the plight of Gaza abroad.

Catherine Connolly, 68, won the presidency with more than 63 percent of the vote Friday, results released Saturday showed. The former clinical psychologist and barrister had campaigned on calls for urgent domestic reform with an unflinching critique of Israel's war in Gaza. The combination resonated with voters who have long identified with the Palestinian cause and those who are frustrated by soaring rents, stagnating infrastructure and the sense that Ireland's prosperity has left many behind.

In her first remarks after the results were released, Connolly vowed to be "an inclusive president" for all Ireland.

"I will be a president who listens and who reflects and who speaks when it's necessary," she told officials and supporters at Dublin Castle. "And a voice for peace, a voice that builds on our policy of neutrality, a voice that articulates the existential threat posed by climate change, and a voice that recognizes the tremendous work being done the length and breadth of the country."

Connolly's sole opponent, Heather Humphreys, conceded the race Saturday afternoon and congratulated her.

"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 told reporters. She appeared with other officials alongside Connolly at Dublin Castle.

Connolly, a former mayor of Galway and member of the national legislature, was considered a long-shot outlier when she announced this summer that she was running. But she prevailed in what became a two-person contest marked by low public interest and candidate chaos.

A crowded field was winnowed dramatically as most contenders failed to qualify or dropped out over health concerns or scandal. Jim Gavin, a former professional soccer coach, quit the race 18 days before the vote amid allegations he had bilked a tenant of almost $4,000.

Ultimately, Connolly ended up in a one-on-one matchup against Humphreys, a cabinet minister from the center-right Fine Gael party seen as the establishment standard-bearer.

Given the odd circumstances - the last presidential vote was split among six candidates - experts cautioned against interpreting deep political trends in the left-winger's decisive win. Ireland, where the prime minister, or taoiseach, is the most powerful political leader, is not required to hold a parliamentary general election until 2030, although it could come earlier.

Still, for some observers, Connolly's victory reflected a milder, Irish-accented version of the restive anti-government ferment roiling democracies worldwide, and flashed early warning signs at Ireland's governing center-right coalition by showing that a strong GDP - the Irish economy outpaces most European nations - is not perfect insulation from voter anger.

"This won't necessarily translate into changes in the next general election," said Diarmaid Ferriter, a professor of modern Irish history at University College Dublin. "But they are clearly tapping into various aspects of discontent with the government."

The presidency, created to represent the parliamentary republic rather than govern it, is almost entirely ceremonial, with only a handful of powers and even those rarely used. The president officially appoints some key officials, notably the attorney general and judges, but only with guidance from the government. But with rare exceptions, the president's role in governing is symbolic, akin to the royal family just across the Irish Sea.

"The powers of the British monarch are the same as our president, extremely limited, they just don't have as much money," said David Farrell, a politics professor at University College Dublin's School of Politics and International Relations.

The job has often served as a career capstone, and Áras an Uachtaráin, the presidential residence in Dublin's Phoenix Park, has been seen more as a political retirement home than a launching pad to greater influence.

Yet there is precedent for an Irish president leveraging the office onto the global stage. Mary Robinson, elected in 1990 as Ireland's first female president, used her seven years to expand the role's moral reach. She resigned early to become the U.N. high commissioner for human rights and later founded a global climate justice foundation.

But Robinson was two decades younger than Connolly when first elected at age 46. Political observers expressed doubt that the incoming president could gain as much influence in office.

"She has grand ideas of sweeping societal reform that are far beyond the scope of any president," said Gary Murphy, a political scientist at Dublin City University. "I don't see space for much beyond making occasional speeches against the government."

Connelly proved to be a measured campaigner, reassuring in her debate with Humphreys and adept at targeting young voters. In TikTok videos of herself goofing around at soccer and basketball, she appeared spry and vigorous for a woman who would be 82 if she were to be reelected and complete the two seven-year terms allowed by law.

As rivals faltered, she pulled off an unusual feat for an independent candidate by persuading nearly every major progressive bloc to back her, including the Labour Party, the Socialist Party and People Before Profit.

Most surprising was the decision by Sinn Fein, the largest party in the Dáil Éireann, Ireland's parliament, to endorse Connolly rather than run its own candidate, bringing organizational muscle to her shoestring operation.

"They played it very cautiously," Murphy said, describing the move as a way for Sinn Fein to be seen as a kingmaker if Connolly won without bearing responsibility if she lost.

The candidates left standing also sought to avoid fireworks.

"They have both said that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza," Farrell said. "They share similar views on a lot of other issues, largely because they're playing it safe and it's not the job of the presidency to have a very strong view on policies."

But Connolly also bulldozed Ireland's conventional diplomatic script in ways that could create headaches with the country's European neighbors.

Her heterodox foreign policy positions include blaming NATO's eastward expansion, in part, for provoking Russia's war in Ukraine. She also slammed European countries for their rapid military buildup and seemed to compare German arms spending to Nazi-era militarization.

In 2018, she made a controversial trip to Syria she characterized as a fact-finding mission that included meetings with representatives from Bashar al-Assad's regime; she declined to say who paid for it. And during the campaign she said room should be made for Hamas to play a role in Gaza's postwar governance because the group was "part of the fabric" of Palestinian society.

"It think it does suggest," Murphy said, "by Irish political standards, that she has a radical streak."

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