Irish Presidential Elections 2025: A New President for a New Ireland?
- Conor Long
- Nov 9
- 6 min read
Introduction:
After fourteen years, the Republic of Ireland has a new President. On October 24th, 2025, voters across the country went to the polling stations, with a majority, 63.4%, voting for independent candidate Catherine Connolly, who will be formally inaugurated on November 11th. However, the biggest stories that emerged in the fallout of the election were not necessarily who the victor was, but the low voter turnout of 46%, and even more worrying, the record number of spoiled votes, the majority of which were intentional. Both the low turnout and the number of spoiled votes may indicate a heightened distrust in the current political system in Ireland amongst a significant portion of eligible voters. Electing an independent candidate as President, further emphasizes this distrust in both the Government and political system.
The Candidates:
This year’s Irish Presidential election marked the lowest number of candidates on the ballot since 1990, 35 years ago (which may also account for the low voter turnout). The three candidates consisted of Catherine Connolly, Heather Humphreys, and Jim Gavin. Firstly, the new President. Who is she? Connolly hails from Galway City, in the West of Ireland. The former barrister, Councilor and TD (MP), was not formally backed by any political parties, but was the preferred victor for left leaning parties such as Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, and People before Profit. Her campaign focused on tackling the ongoing housing crisis, climate action, Irish neutrality and Irish reunification. She is also highly critical of EU militarization and, as a staunch supporter for Palestinian self-determination, is vocal on the atrocities Israel is committing on the people of Gaza. In sum, she presents herself as a champion for human rights, justice, and neutrality. Her campaign was not without its faults however, as she was confronted with a number of questionable decisions she made in the past. For example, she was questioned as to why she hired a dissident Republican who was recently released from jail on firearms charges. Furthermore, she was asked why she chose to take a trip to Syria in 2018, where at one point she met an armed supporter of Bashar al-Assad. In her defense, she stated that the trip was undertaken as a ‘fact finding mission’ to promote the hardships of refugees.
Connolly’s main rival was Heather Humphrey’s, backed by Fine Gael (FG), an Irish center‑right Political Party which is part of the current Government coalition. Humprey’s comes from Monaghan, close the Republic-Northern Ireland border. In 2011, she was elected to the Dáil as a member of Fine Gael, representing the Cavan–Monaghan area. Since then, she has served as minister in multiple departments, including Rural Development, Social Protection and Business/ Enterprise. Hence, she was praised for her experience in Government and public service. She has a center - right attitude towards politics, being fiscally conservative and pro-business and innovation. As a member of one of the main parties in Government, her campaign emphasized stability and continuity, supporting Ireland’s EU membership and international relations, without emphasizing activist foreign policy, thus contrasting with independent Connolly’s left-wing activist beliefs. Throughout her campaign, she was criticized for her unionist family background. Humphrey’s family was heavily involved in the Orange Order, an organization that has a history of anti-Catholic sentiment and linkages to loyalist paramilitaries. Her father was an Orange Order member, and her grandfather even signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912 (a unionist oath to resist Irish Home Rule). Humphreys has publicly stated that as a child she attended Orange Order marches with her parents calling them a ‘family day out’ and a ‘cultural day’. In her defense, she says she stopped attending the marches when they became heavily politicized during The Troubles, a disastrous conflict primarily in Northern Ireland between the 1960’s and 1998. The same cannot be said for her husband however, who was an active Orange Order member during the height of The Troubles. When quizzed on her husband, she stated that she was ‘not aware’ of him being a current member. Evidently, it seems that her familial ties to unionism, and her lack of fluency in Irish, made for much controversy during her campaign. That said, she has gone on record stating ‘Of course I’ll vote for a united Ireland’, hence, her ties to unionism seem to be more of a historical and family matter, rather than a personal one.
Then there is Jim Gavin, from Dublin, a former Air Corp officer in the Irish Defence Forces, who went on to become an executive in the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA). However, he is most widely known as the former manager for Dublin’s Senior Gaelic Football team, leading them to win five All-Ireland Championships in a row. In September 2025, he was nominated by Fianna Fáil (FF) as their candidate for the election. Throughout his campaign, he positioned himself as a ‘centrist and constitutional republican’, focusing on leadership and community engagement, highlighting his military service and sports background. Like the other candidates, he too had his flaws. When a dispute with his former tenant, whom he owed €3,300 since 2009 became public knowledge, he withdrew from active canvassing on October 5th, essentially changing the Presidential race into a head-to-head between Connolly and Humphrey’s. Nevertheless, his name remained on the ballot paper, as he ceased canvassing after the deadline for the Official Ruling on Nominations, and any voters who picked Gavin were still casting legitimate votes.
Low Turnout/ Spoiled Votes:
As previously mentioned, the 2025 elections set a new record in Ireland for the number of spoiled votes. Approximately 12.9% of votes were invalid/spoiled, around 213,700 ballots, an extraordinary amount for a country with a population of approximately five million, where less than half of the voter population actually voted. To put this into perspective, people cast more spoiled votes than they did for Jim Gavin (7.2%). This is a huge contrast to the 2018 Presidential elections, where there were only 1.2% spoiled votes. The reason for such a high number of spoiled votes can be attributed to the “Spoil the Vote” campaign, which was promoted widely online as a form of protest, with much of the voter population feeling they were not represented by the candidates, expressing frustration with the Government and political system in Ireland. This may also be correlated to the fact that either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael have led every Government since the foundation of the state. Evidently, they are a dominant powerhouse in Irish politics, which may not be considered a good thing for some of the population. This long dominance has led to a growing animosity among some voters towards the two parties, sensing that they represent the ‘establishment’ and that little meaningful change will emerge from the system. Hence, this may also explain why the independent candidate emerged victorious, and not the two candidates backed by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Nevertheless, spoiling a vote does not have any real implications on the outcome of the election, whichever candidate does get the most votes will still become President. It is merely seen as a form of protest and a symbolic act to show dissatisfaction with the running candidates.
What does the result mean for Ireland?:
So, what does this all mean for Ireland? Well, as previously mentioned, the role of President of Ireland is largely ceremonial, therefore, in terms of the election result, there shouldn’t be any major changes to the way the country is run, that would be up to the Taoiseach (Prime Minister). Furthermore, Connolly by in large has many of the same qualities and beliefs as that of former President Michael D. Higgins, therefore seemingly not much would change in that regard either. Saying that, while both share similar beliefs, Connolly is more outspoken and vocal in her strong opinions than that of Higgins, which could lead to more tension between Áras an Uachtaráin (the Presidency) and the Government. Connolly’s victory, an independent with no backing from Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael, could be interpreted as a signal that a significant portion of the public is tired of establishment politics. Then again, Higgins was initially not backed by them either. The difference now is that both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael actively had a candidate in the 2025 race, compared to the 2018 election, where neither had a candidate, but either officially or unofficially backed Higgins for his second term. In 2011, Fianna Fáil did not have a candidate, while Fine Gael backed Gay Mitchell. The fact that BOTH major parties had a candidate this time around and still lost a 3-way race, with one candidate effectively dropping out before the end of the campaign, shows weaking faith in the traditional duopoly that has ruled the state since its inception.
In conclusion, the Irish 2025 Presidential election did not overhaul the entire Irish political system, but it highlights the cracks and faults within it. If Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael do not respond accordingly to voter dissatisfaction, expressed not only via a Connolly victory, but also low voter turnout and record numbers of spoiled votes, they risk further losses in future elections. So, is Ireland entering a new era of politics, with stronger independents and alternative parties, or will Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael reign for another hundred years? Only time will tell.
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