Pro-Palestine Catherine Connolly to be new Irish president after landslide vote

Left-winger takes on influential role while criticising Nato, US, UK and French 'warmongering'

Irish independent presidential candidate Catherine Connolly, whose views on Palestine and Hamas perturb mainstream Irish political opinion. Reuters

She has heralded Hamas as “part of the fabric” of Palestinians, visited Syria during Bashar Al Assad’s regime, condemned Nato militarism and criticised Britain and America as distrustful warmongers.

An outspoken left-winger, Catherine Connolly is on course to be elected by a landslide over two rivals as the next Irish president on Saturday.

As opponents indicated they were conceding victory to her, Ms Connolly said she was “absolutely delighted with the result and I want to thank all my supporters”.

“Actually, I want to thank everybody – even those who did not vote for me. I understand their concerns in relation to who will represent them best,” she said.

Ms Connolly's triumph comes days after the emergence of an AI-generated deepfake video purporting to show her announcing she was pulling out of the race.

While the presidency is largely ceremonial, it does carry influence, especially on the global stage. Previous incumbents have held the ear of US presidents as they escorted them on tours around Ireland and they have also set the tone for the country’s international diplomacy.

Catherine Connolly puts on a member of the public's hat in Navan, County Meath, during campaigning. PA

Ms Connolly, 68, who stood as an independent, is unlikely to be warmly welcomed in Germany, whose increase in defence spending to deter Russian expansion she likened to Adolf Hitler’s Nazi rearmament drive of the 1930s.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also been criticised as a “dictator”, but Nato too had “played a despicable role” in moving forward Ukraine’s borders and “engaging in warmongering”.

Being from a family of 14 children whose mother died aged 43 clearly shaped her, and Ms Connolly has frequently spoken out for equality as a member of the Irish Parliament for the past decade.

Irish President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina, with US president Joe Biden during his 2023 visit. PA

Ms Connolly, who is married and has two adult sons, has worked as a barrister and clinical psychologist but was drawn to local politics in her native Galway 30 years ago.

Given her views, she was backed unsurprisingly in the presidential campaign by the ardent republicans of Sinn Fein, long associated with the IRA, which in turn formed close links with the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

That perhaps explains her comments on Hamas being part of Palestinian life. “I come from Ireland, a history of colonisation, and I would be very wary of telling a sovereign people how to run their country,” she once said.

On the election trail she has pledged “in every way possible” to seek a united Ireland, and has a low view of the British government. Prime Minister Keir Starmer was criticised by her after he said Hamas should have no future role in Gaza’s governance.

Catherine Connolly speaks at a rally in Monaghan town. PA

She has accused “America, England and France” of being “deeply entrenched in an arms industry which causes bloodshed across the world”.

She is a keen commentator on Middle East politics, condemning the 2003 invasion of Iraq and opposing sanctions against Syria under Mr Al Assad, which she argued would make the situation worse for people.

Ms Connolly was condemned by opponents on the campaign trail for providing legitimacy to the Assad regime following a visit to Syria in 2018, but has stridently defended herself. “Assad's dictatorship committed countless atrocities and human rights abuses, all of which I have criticised,” she said.

A strong supporter of Palestinians, she has been highly critical of Israel, which withdrew its embassy from Dublin this year in anger at Ireland’s stance on Gaza. “I challenge all of us to stand up and stop the genocide taking place in our name, because we are complicit,” she told Dail Eireann, the Irish parliament.

Her campaign website stated that “Catherine wants to be a president for all the people, especially for those often excluded and silenced” while defending Ireland’s neutrality alongside a policy of “compassionate diplomacy”. By Saturday morning she was in a position to enact it.