Seven heaven
820,000 vote for Higgins in landslide Casey backed by 20% of electorate
MICHAEL D Higgins has romped to victory in the presidential election with the largest majority in the history of the State.
The 77-year-old secured more than 820,000 first preference votes, nearly 60% of total of those cast.
But the big surprise of the election was the stellar performance of maverick businessman Peter Casey.
He did better than expected with his impressive haul of more than one in every five votes, over 20% of the poll.
This was despite his controversial comments about Travellers during the course of the campaign that many found racist.
He has hinted at running in future elections and is even contemplating forming a new political party.
Speaking after being re-elected in Dublin Castle, Mr Higgins said: “The presidency belongs not to any one person, but to the people of Ireland.
“I will be a President for all the people, for those who voted for me and those who did not, because I am so proud of our country.
“I am proud to be President of all of you, and with all of you, and I look forward with joy and hope to all that we will achieve together.”
Leo Varadkar congratulated Mr Higgins on his stunning victory. The Taoiseach said: I’m really pleased with the result, this is a historic victory, a resounding result for Mr Higgins who is going to be elected to a second term.
“This is a resounding endorsement from all sections of the Irish community.”
The defeated candidates were Mr Casey, Joan Freeman, Sean Gallagher, Sinn Fein’s Liadh Ni Riada and Gavin Duffy.
Ms Freeman said she loved the campaign and praised all of the other candidates and congratulated Mr Higgins on his victory.
She added: “This campaign made me fall in love with Ireland all over again.
“As I toured the country, I was blown away by the sheer generosity of the people of Ireland as they make sure that the most vulnerable in their communities are supported.”
Twice defeated Mr Gallagher has not ruled out running for election again. He
added: “I won’t make any decisions now but I do know that Ireland will face a lot of challenges in the years ahead, particularly on the back of Brexit and I remain as committed to communities, small businesses and the country as I have always been.”
Mr Duffy got the wooden spoon, finishing in last place, but insists he “has no regrets”.
He said: “The people have spoken, and they’ve spoken very, very clearly with a large mandate.
“We’ll learn later on it could be a historic mandate for my President and your President Michael D Higgins. “I want to wish him all the best.” Ms Ni Riada said: “It was disappointing for me, but it was wonderful we had an election and that democracy prevailed with Sinn Fein having the wherewithal to say, let’s have an election.” Meanwhile, Mr Casey has called on the Taoiseach to apologise for telling people not to vote for him.
Mr Varadkar was in Brussels last week when he said he hoped people would vote against him at the polls after his Traveller comments.
Mr Casey added: “I’m still waiting on the Taoiseach to apologise for telling people not to vote for me, which I think is the first time in history that I am aware of that a Taoiseach has come out against a person who was nominated by four counties.
“He actually went and said people should not vote for Peter Casey. “I mean, that was disgraceful.” Mr Varadkar said he will not be apologising for anything.