Catherine Connolly, an independent candidate backed by Ireland’s left-wing opposition parties, has won the country’s presidential election by a landslide, securing over 64.7% of the vote, official results showed on Saturday.

I will be a president who listens, who reflects and who speaks when it’s necessary. Together we can shape a new republic that values everybody,” Connolly said in her victory speech at Dublin Castle.

Heather Humphreys of the centrist Fine Gael party finished second with 28.2%, while Fianna Fáil’s Jim Gavin came third with just over 7%, despite having withdrawn from the race earlier this month amid a rent payment controversy. His withdrawal effectively left Connolly and Humphreys as the main contenders.

Connolly, 68, a lawmaker from Galway and a fluent Irish speaker, will succeed Michael D. Higgins, who served two full terms since 2011 in the largely ceremonial post.

Her campaign centred on the themes of “peace,” “unity,” and “neutrality.” Positioned on the far-left of Ireland’s political spectrum, she was endorsed by Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, and other left-leaning parties.

Connolly has been a vocal critic of both the United States and the European Union despite Ireland’s strong pro-EU stance. She has opposed increased EU defence spending since the war in Ukraine began and compared Germany’s military budget rise to the 1930s. She has also criticised the US, UK, and France over their roles in the Gaza war — positions that may put her at odds with Ireland’s current centre-right coalition government of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Green Party.

The election saw a relatively low voter turnout of 46.3%, with nearly one in eight ballots reportedly spoiled, according to The Irish Times. Right-wing groups had urged voters to spoil ballots in protest against what they called a lack of conservative candidates, as well as to express anger over immigration and crime.

Ireland has in recent months witnessed sporadic protests — some turning violent — over the rising number of asylum seekers amid a deepening housing crisis and growing homelessness.

Eoin O’Malley, a political science professor at Dublin City University, told AFP that the poll effectively became a “referendum on the centre-right government.” He said the unusually high number of spoiled ballots “reflects deep anger and dissatisfaction with all the parties, which refuse to discuss issues such as immigration.”