Analysis
Catherine Connolly, Ireland’s revolutionary president
Initially, her presidential candidacy was backed only by the parties further to the left of Labour, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit. However, Labour eventually endorsed her, as did Sinn Féin, giving a decisive boost to her campaign.
“We want a republic to be proud of, a republic that will never turn a blind eye to the normalization of genocide, the normalization of homelessness, or obscene waiting lists,” said Catherine Connolly, Ireland’s newly elected President. Connolly will succeed Michael D. Higgins, the poet-president who is now concluding his second term, undoubtedly the most beloved and respected Irish head of state in the last decades.
Connolly won with an overwhelming 63% of the vote against about 30% for her main competitor. However, voter turnout hit a record low of under 46%, with an unusually high percentage of spoiled ballots (almost 8%).
Like Higgins, Connolly was once a member of the Labour Party but later left to run successfully for parliament as an independent. She has consistently championed social justice, fought against inequality, and opposed Western military interventionism.
Initially, her presidential candidacy was backed only by the parties further to the left of Labour, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit. However, Labour eventually endorsed her, as did Sinn Féin, giving a decisive boost to her campaign.
Connolly's statements in the weeks leading up to the vote leave no doubt about her international stance. On Israel, which she views as an outpost of U.S. power, she said that the “genocide has been enabled and financed by American money,” and expressed deep concern about the military industry’s renewed prominence and high profits. She criticized Germany, for example, which “is reviving its economy through the military industry,” and argued that Ireland's history of colonization “gives us a unique perspective on the world, and we must use our voice for peace.” On NATO, she said that “we have nothing to gain and everything to lose by aligning ourselves with powerful blocs. We can only speak for peace if we maintain our credibility as a neutral state.”
Critics have often pressed her on her alleged anti-Americanism. In the campaign's final days, she was asked how she would handle a visit from Donald Trump, who owns a golf resort in Ireland. Unfazed, Connolly explained she would welcome him cordially, but added that if the discussion turned to genocide, “then that will be a very different conversation.”
These and other statements have irked many, particularly among the current center-right government, which has a clear lesson to learn from this election. The two governing parties failed to unite behind a single candidate. Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin was forced to withdraw over a rental property scandal (though his name remained on the ballot, garnering 7%), while Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys, a Protestant from an area close to the border with Northern Ireland, stayed in but failed to connect with voters.
Connolly’s victory is undoubtedly due to Sinn Féin’s support, and so is the unprecedented "reunification" of the Irish left. It’s no coincidence that Connolly often addressed the national question in the last weeks of the campaign, in uncompromising terms. She called Irish reunification a “foregone conclusion,” noting that “Article 3 of the Constitution gives voice to the firm will of the Irish people... to strive for a United Ireland.” She also said she hoped to see this become a reality during her seven-year term.
Connolly is a daughter of the working class, raised in a Galway suburb. Her father, a carpenter and shipyard worker, raised 14 children alone after his wife's death. Connolly later moved to England, earning degrees in psychology and law, and worked as a lawyer and clinical psychologist before entering politics full-time.
While her election represents institutional continuity in many ways, one of Connolly’s biggest challenges will be measuring up to the extraordinary legacy of Higgins. Like her, the outgoing president never shied away from fierce critiques of the world order, notably condemning Israel’s genocidal policies from the outset and taking much criticism from the latter.
Furthermore, Connolly will take office at a very complicated moment for Irish society. In recent days, violent protests erupted in Dublin near a hotel housing migrants and asylum seekers, sparked by an alleged report of a sexual assault on a young woman in the neighborhood of the hotel. Police firmly quelled the unrest, although they came under attack with stones and firecrackers and had to guard the site for days.
Such events are becoming less rare, fueled by pro-Brexit right-wingers allied with extremist factions in Northern Ireland. There is no sign that the atmosphere will improve any time soon, especially after Sinn Féin introduced a motion this week before the government and Parliament calling for starting formal planning towards what they hope will be the reunification of the country.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/connolly-in-irlanda-ce-una-presidente-rivoluzionaria on 2025-10-26