The media are awaiting the arrival of Catherine Connolly at Dublin Castle where she'll be officially declared as Ireland's 10th president. She is a left-wing veteran independent member of the Irish parliament, backed by a coalition of opposition parties, the biggest of which is Sinn Féin.

Far-left independent candidate Catherine Connolly won Ireland's presidential election in a historic landslide, securing 63% of first-preference votes. The 68-year-old former Galway mayor, supported by left-wing parties,

The Independent candidate from Galway was the number one choice on 61.4% (17,351) of valid ballots tallied with Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys coming in at 30.99% (8,758) followed by the withdrawn Fianna Fáil contender Jim Gavin on 7.6% (2,149).

Irish President Michael D Higgins has congratulated his successor Catherine Connolly after her landslide election win. The independent TD (member of Irish parliament) secured 914,143 first preference votes (63%) - a record in Irish presidential election history.

A third candidate, Jim Gavin, 54, dropped out of the race in early October over an unpaid debt to a former tenant. Though he remains on the ballot, it is almost certain that Ireland’s next president will be a woman.