Higgins To Be Ninth President?

Early indications have revealed that Labour’s Michael D Higgins is likely to be appointed as Ireland’s ninth president.

The so-called "maverick" is now expected to have a commanding lead over Independent Seán Gallagher when a first count result is declared later this evening.

From the minute the boxes opened this morning it started to become clear that Mr Higgins was on course for victory.

Early tally reports from count centres around the country put Mr Higgins up around the 40% mark with Mr Gallagher closer to 30%.

Mr Gallager had been pitted as 'frontrunner' during the last opinion poll but this came before controversial accusations about his financial past. It was then said that Higgins might benefit from the accusations; it could be argued that this is now true.

Sinn Féin TD MaryLou McDonald today said this intervention is likely to have benefited Michael D Higgins more than her candidate, but 'that's politics'

"That's the nature of campaigns like this and it's the nature of politics," Deputy McDonald said.

Senator David Norris, another independent, was the first of the seven candidates to offer congratulations to the Labour man.

"I’m quite certain the next president will be Michael D Higgins and I’d like to send my love and congratulations to Michael D, to Sabina and the rest of the family," he said.

"It must be a very, very happy day for them and I also think it’s a good day for Ireland because, although he is a Labour Party member, Michael D, like myself, is a little bit of a maverick and when you have such a concentration of power in the hands of the coalition I think it’s good to have somebody who will be in a position morally and intellectually to speak out on behalf of the marginalised."

Meanwhile Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said it had been an honour to nominate the 70-year-old for the job and that it is almost "certain" that Higgins will be the next president.

Mr Gilmore said:"This is a good day for the Labour Party. Our nominee Michael D Higgins looks pretty certain that he will be elected the ninth president of Ireland."

The Labour candidate himself is now starting to accept that he could be the next President of Ireland.

Mr Higgins said:"It has been a long campaign, it has been a campaign that has brought me two or three times into literally every village and town in Ireland and it went on right up to the very end.

"It is very close between two candidates, but it looks now, with the reports coming in from across the constituencies, I could probably win on the first count."

The results from the first counts in the 43 constituencies are expected early in the evening or, depending on the official turnout, later tonight.

(LB)