Shock and clover: "pro-Russian" candidate became President of Ireland

68-year-old pacifist Catherine Connolly has won the Irish presidential race. EU politicians are shocked by this turn of events, as they did not expect the victory of the outrageous oppositionist with "anti-NATO" views. At the same time, shortly before the announcement of the results, anti-immigrant riots began in the country. How Catherine Connolly became the head of the republic, why the issue of illegal migration has escalated as the elections approach, and why the EU is expressing concern about the choice of Irish citizens — in the Izvestia article.

Catherine Connolly won the Irish election: what is known

An independent far—left candidate, Catherine Connolly— won the Irish presidential election. Her opponent, Heather Humphries, a representative of the centrist Fine Gael party, announced her opponent's success. "Catherine will become the president of all of us. She will be my president. I would like to wish her all the best. I have no regrets," Humphries told RTE television. As noted by other Irish media, Connolly's victory did not come as a surprise, as public polls had predicted such an election result in advance.

After the announcement of the results of the preliminary vote count, Connolly shared that she was pleased with the success achieved. "I want to thank everyone, even those who did not vote for me," she said. The representative of the far—left camp won the support of 63.5% of voters, which is a record result in the history of Irish elections. Heather Humphries, in turn, received almost 30% of the vote. Slightly less than 8% was given to Jim Gavin, a representative of the Fianna Fail party ("Soldiers of Destiny" or the Republican Party. — Izvestia), which is also a member of the ruling coalition. Despite the fact that the candidate withdrew from the election race in early October, his name was printed on the ballots. The turnout was almost half of the total number of citizens — 45.4%.

Approximately 13% of the ballots were found to be corrupted, which, according to RTE, may indicate a protest by Irish citizens against the modern political system. Some had large letters on them: "Donald Trump, save our country!"

Catherine Connolly is a 68—year-old independent candidate, a pacifist and an opponent of the militarization of Europe. She is supported by the nationalist Sinn Fein party ("We Ourselves". — Izvestia) and the left forces. Connolly criticizes the conflict in Ukraine, but at the same time condemns NATO for all kinds of provocations. She also supports the principle of Irish neutrality, and calls the events taking place in the Gaza Strip genocide. Earlier, Politico described the oppositionist's views as "often anti-Western," sharply "anti-Israeli" and "anti-NATO."

Connolly's victory, especially since it was so convincing, caused an unprecedented stir in the West. Before the start of the campaign, the possibility of nominating the famous musician Bob Geldof was much more actively discussed. Now he claims that he "would have won easily" if he had agreed to participate. Immediately after the election results were announced, Catherine Connolly stated: "I will be the voice of peace based on our policy of neutrality."

Oleg Okhoshin, a senior researcher at the Center for British Studies, told Izvestia that Connolly's victory was connected not so much with her pacifist views as with the election campaign. The candidate relied on the support of the center-left, which helped attract Irish activists. Connolly's statements about "power for the sake of serving" the Irish radically distinguished her from her rival from the ruling party, Heather Humphries.

— Catherine Connolly's victory is the result of a well-thought-out election strategy. She relied on the powerful center-left opposition, which created an organizational base for her and helped attract activists across the country. Connolly's rhetoric was based on the fact that she was coming to power in the name of protecting the interests of the Irish. This created a contrast with Heather Humphries, who represented the ruling Fine Gael party, in which the electorate was disappointed.

Migration policy

Migrants in Ireland are a problem that the authorities have been fighting for quite a long time. According to the Ministry of Justice of the state, 80% of the total number of illegal immigrants enter the state from Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. According to experts, the country's migration service has been unable to cope with the flow of applications in recent years. From 2020 to 2024, the number of citizenship requests increased from 3 to 18.5 thousand. Due to the long-term housing crisis in the state, there are not enough places for temporary accommodation of refugees. A new program is just beginning to be implemented in the country. It involves two stages: first, migrants are settled in specialized centers, and then in social housing, followed by integration into the host community.

Recently, the Irish media reported the start of protests after a 10-year-old girl was raped by an African migrant in a refugee camp. Everything happened a few days before the announcement of the election results. At first, the police hid the nationality of the attacker, but later it turned out that the suspect needed an Arabic translator in court. Later it became known that the attacker was a migrant from Sudan.

In Saggart in South Dublin, protesters gathered outside the former Citywest Hotel, which is currently being used to house people seeking international protection. The protesters set fire to a police van, and in response, law enforcement officers fired tear gas. Some of the attackers were on horseback, and residents of neighboring districts noticed that people arrived at the protests in cars with nonresident license plates.

According to Oleg Okhoshin, Connolly's election campaign does not contain a migrant resettlement program. The candidate, on the contrary, unlike his opponent, advocates expanding the number of reception points for refugees and for a "democratic" solution to the housing crisis.

— To a certain extent, Catherine Connolly's election program contained formulations that were more understandable to the electorate than the abstract promises of her opponents. She suggested solving the housing crisis and expanding the number of reception points for asylum seekers. At the same time, Heather Humphries limited herself to the general phrase that she stands for a "fairer migration policy," and Jim Gavin said that Ireland needs foreign specialists, the expert said.

Many Irish people are tired of the influx of migrants. According to some experts, those representatives of the European establishment who dislike Connolly's candidacy could play on such a "flaw" in her election campaign.

The European establishment does not want an end to the conflict in Ukraine

Catherine Connolly has never spoken out in support of Russia. She only calls on countries to make peace, and also advises NATO not to escalate the conflict. Meanwhile, in Europe, such statements are perceived as "pro-Russian propaganda." Foreign political science experts are vying to talk about "secondary Kremlinism" and "the involuntary repetition of plots completely borrowed from Russian state television." The future Irish head was also convicted of "repeating the narratives of Russian propagandists," because instead of "Ukraine," Catherine says "The Ukraine."

Military expert Boris Jerelievsky shared with Izvestia the opinion that European globalists have now made a big bet on the conflict with Russia. At the same time, such a policy runs counter to the real interests of the Union states. European leaders understand that if relations with Russia are mended, many will have questions about the money spent, which, according to the establishment, should have paid off in the event of a Ukrainian victory.

— The globalists in power in the EU have bet on a conflict with Russia, which is contrary to the interests of the population of European countries. Nevertheless, they understand that in the event of a change in the political vector and normalization of relations with the Russian Federation, not only will there be no room for them, they may be asked. Responsibility for the money they have wasted and the corruption schemes they have built with Ukraine — for them, ending the confrontation is like death. Moreover, they often argued that the costs incurred in Ukraine and in maintaining this conflict would more than pay off after the victory over Russia, when all our wealth would go to them," the expert recalled.

Boris Jerelievsky assures that there is a high demand among Europeans for the end of the Ukrainian crisis. Despite the anti-Russian propaganda, forces aimed at normalizing relations with Russia are winning in many EU countries: Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Austria and other countries.

— There is a high demand among the European population for peace with Russia, for normalization of relations, no one, of course, wants to fight. Despite the frenzied anti—Russian propaganda, we see that the forces opposing, so to speak, military hysteria and advocating for the national interests of specific countries are winning. This happened in Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, followed by Austria. <...> These elites, who talk about their "democratic choice" and "protection of democracy," in reality easily violate any laws, any principles, as happened, for example, in Romania, when the elections were simply canceled because they were not satisfied with the results, the expert concluded.