Far-left candidate who known as Israel ‘terrorist state’ elected president of Eire

[ad_1] Catherine Connolly, a veteran lawmaker on the far left of the Irish political spectrum, was elected president by a landslide margin on Saturday.

Official outcomes confirmed robust voter help for Connolly as president, a largely ceremonial position in Eire. She gained 63 p.c of first-preference votes as soon as ineligible votes had been excluded, in comparison with 29% for her rival Heather Humphreys, of the center-right occasion Superb Gael.

She has drawn criticism for her views on the Hamas terror group, which she stated in September was “a part of the material of the Palestinian folks.” Eire’s Prime Minister Micheál Martin criticized these feedback.

Connolly later maintained that she “completely condemned” Hamas’s actions and that its October 7, 2023, onslaught in opposition to Israel, which began the battle, was “completely unacceptable.”

However she criticized Israel for finishing up what she stated was a “genocide” in Gaza, an accusation Israel adamantly rejects. She has additionally accused Israel of being a “terrorist state.”

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By signing up, you comply with the terms “If we on this Dáil can’t acknowledge that Israel is a terrorist state, then we’re in deep trouble,” she stated in a video shared on her campaign’s Facebook page in June , referring to the decrease home of the Irish legislature the place she served. She went on to criticize Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, its army conduct in Gaza, and different Israeli insurance policies.

Catherine Connolly casts her vote within the election for the subsequent Irish president at Claddagh Nationwide College in Galway metropolis, Eire, October 24, 2025. (Brian Lawless/PA through AP) Connolly, 68, is a long-time critic of the European Union in overwhelmingly pro-EU Eire. She was backed by the left-dominated opposition, was not a family title, and was underestimated by many initially of the marketing campaign.

An impartial candidate, she constructed momentum because the marketing campaign progressed, and enthused youthful voters.

“I will probably be a president who listens, who displays and who speaks when it’s needed. Collectively we will form a brand new republic that values everyone,” Connolly stated in a speech at Dublin Citadel.

Eire’s president is basically a figurehead, with seldom-used powers to check the constitutionality of laws, however usually speaks on the worldwide stage and welcomes different heads of state to the nation.

Lots of Connolly’s views — from denouncing the EU’s plans to spice up army spending to questioning the trustworthiness of the US, Britain and France over their stance on the battle in Gaza — are properly to the left of most of the events backing her, in addition to outspoken incumbent Michael Higgins, himself a critic of Israel.

Higgins has been president since 2011, having served the utmost two seven-year phrases.

Irish President Michael Higgins speaks at a forty second World Meals Day celebration at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy, October 16, 2023. (AP Picture/Alessandra Tarantino) Connolly will probably be Eire’s tenth president and the third girl to carry the publish. She is a former scientific psychologist and barrister.

Though she served as deputy speaker of Eire’s decrease home after being first elected in 2016, her win was broadly considered as persevering with the latest development of selecting a extra impartial president primarily based on the candidate’s values. It amounted to a stinging rebuke to the not too long ago re-elected center-right coalition.

She additionally benefited from dire campaigns from the 2 governing events. Humphreys was not Superb Gael’s first alternative. Fianna Fail’s choose, former Gaelic soccer coach Jim Gavin, deserted his bid on account of a monetary scandal.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin addresses the eightieth session of the United Nations Normal Meeting, September 26, 2025. (AP Picture/Richard Drew) A file 13 p.c of voters additionally spoiled their votes, partly on account of a deliberate protest by supporters of a conservative campaigner who did not safe the required help from elected representatives to make the poll.

Martin stated the federal government was open to reforming the nomination course of.

On Saturday, Martin congratulated Connolly on her “very complete election victory.” He stated he was trying ahead to working with the brand new president as “Eire continues to play a big position on the worldwide stage, and as we look ahead to internet hosting the EU presidency within the second half of 2026.”

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