2025 Irish presidential election
Updated: Wikipedia source
The 2025 Irish presidential election took place on Friday, 24 October 2025, to elect a new president of Ireland. The incumbent president, Michael D. Higgins, was term-limited, having served the maximum two seven-year terms permitted under the Constitution of Ireland. The nominated candidates were Catherine Connolly (Independent), Jim Gavin (Fianna Fáil) and Heather Humphreys (Fine Gael). All three were nominated by members of the Oireachtas, rather than by county or city councils. The 1990 presidential election had been the last to feature only three candidates, and also the last to feature no candidates nominated by councils. Amid controversy over an unpaid debt to a former tenant, Gavin discontinued his campaign on 5 October. However, his name remained on the ballot, as a candidate can formally withdraw only before the ruling on nominations, which had taken place on 24 September. There had not been a two-candidate election since the 1973 presidential election. Opinion polls carried out before the election predicted a significant advantage for Connolly. Voting took place from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on 24 October. Following the release of preliminary tallies on 25 October indicating a landslide victory for Connolly, Humphreys conceded the election. The official result was announced at Dublin Castle shortly before 7:30 p.m. The final turnout was 45.8%. Of the valid votes cast, Connolly received 63.4%, the highest percentage ever received in a contested Irish presidential election. With 914,143 votes, she also recorded the highest number of first-preference votes ever received by an electoral candidate in Ireland. Humphreys received 29.5% of the valid votes and Gavin 7.2%. There were 213,738 spoiled votes, or 12.9% of the total votes cast, record numbers in Irish electoral history. Connolly was elected and was inaugurated as Ireland's president on 11 November 2025, becoming the country's third female president, after Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese.