(MENAFN- IANS) London, Oct 26 (IANS) Independent politician Catherine Connolly has won Ireland's presidential election and will serve as the country's 10th president after receiving 63.36 per cent of first preference votes, according to official results released.

The 68-year-old candidate, backed by several left-wing parties including Sinn Fein, competed with Fine Gael's Heather Humphreys, a former government minister, in the election that kicked off on Friday.

The results, announced on Saturday evening (local time), show a landslide for Connolly, as was predicted by opinion polls, with 914,143 first preference votes. Humphreys, who won 29.46 per cent of first preference votes, has congratulated Connolly on becoming "a president for all of us" on Saturday afternoon, before the full results were released.

A third candidate on the ballot, the Fianna Fail-backed Jim Gavin, withdrew from the race earlier in October following a controversy over a rental dispute, reports Xinhua news agency.

Connolly has served as a member of parliament for the Galway West constituency since 2016, and previously worked as a psychologist and barrister.

She became the deputy speaker of the parliament's lower house in 2020, the first woman ever to hold the post.

Connolly will be sworn in to succeed incumbent President Michael D. Higgins, who is set to complete the second of his two consecutive seven-year terms in November.

After winning the elections, she said, "My message is use your voice in every way you can, because a republic and a democracy need constructive questioning, and together we can shape a new republic that values everybody."

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