Leftwinger Catherine Connolly to be Ireland's next president after landslide election victory

The left-wing independent candidate, Catherine Connolly, has won a landslide victory in Ireland's presidential election, Report informs referring to The Guardian.

Her rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded defeat on Saturday afternoon after early vote tallies showed an insurmountable gap between the candidates.

"Catherine will be a president for all of us and she will be my president and I really would like to wish her all the very, very best," Humphreys said.

Reports from tallymen – unofficial but usually reliable observers at count centers – gave Connolly 64% of the vote after two-thirds of ballots were counted.

Connolly 68, captured the imagination of many younger people and was backed by an alliance of leftwing opposition parties in Friday's election.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial office but Connolly's triumph is a humbling rebuke to the center-right government.

Humphreys, 62, a former cabinet minister who ran for the Fine Gael party, won 29%, according to tallies. Jim Gavin, a candidate for Fianna Fáil who withdrew late from the campaign but whose name remained on the ballot, won 7%.

The number of spoiled votes was on track for 13%, a historic high that was seen to reflect widespread frustration with the limited choices. Turnout was estimated to be about 40% of the 3.6 million eligible voters.

Connolly said she was delighted, speaking after the early tallies. "I want to thank everybody, even those that didn't vote for me. I understand their concerns in relation to who will represent them best."

The tallies showed she beat Humphreys even in Fine Gael strongholds such as south Dublin.

Anger over a housing crisis and the cost of living, campaign blunders by Fine Gael and its ruling partner Fianna Fáil, rare unity among leftwing parties and deft use of social media combined to make Connolly a symbol of change.