LAST UPDATE | 23 Oct

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AS THE TWO remaining presidential candidates conduct their last day of campaigning, a new poll shows that independent Catherine Connolly has a commanding lead over her Fine Gael rival Heather Humphreys. 

A poll published today by The Irish Independent/Ireland Thinks suggests that Connolly’s support stands at 40%, while Humphreys is sitting on 25%.

Support for Jim Gavin, the Fianna Fáil candidate who withdrew from the campaign but remains on the ballot, stands at 7%. 

A large proportion of those who responded to the poll, 28%, said they would either not vote, didn’t know how they would vote or planned to spoil their votes. 

When that 28% is left out of considerations, 55% say they will vote for Connolly and 35% will vote for Humphreys. If the voting plays out that way tomorrow, Connolly would win on the first count. 

Connolly is ahead of Humphreys right across the country but her lead is greatest in Connacht and Ulster, where she has 59% of the support and Humphreys has 33%. 

Support for Connolly is lowest in Dublin but she still has the backing of 52% of voters there while Humphreys has 35%. 

The Irish Independent/Ireland Thinks poll also provides insights into how the last televised debate landed with voters.

Of the people polled who watched the Prime Time debate on RTE last Tuesday, 67% believed Connolly won, while only 18% said Humphreys came out on tops. The other 15% said they did not know. 

One more sleep

Speaking about the strong opinion poll performance today, Connolly said: “It’s wonderful for my team but we take absolutely nothing for granted.”

Catherine Connolly on the campaign trail today. PA PA

She told reporters at St Anne’s National School in Co Roscommon: “I would appeal to everyone to come out and vote.

“To be president of Ireland is an absolute privilege and I leave that to the people of Ireland.”

On the final full day of campaigning, she focused on the west of Ireland. At the primary school in Castlerea students put on Irish dancing displays and performed a number of songs, including Ireland’s Call, for the presidential hopeful.

Her next stop was Robert Flynn, a 200-year old grocery store in the town centre where packets of porridge fill the shelves alongside live goldfish and ammunition belts.

The 87-year-old shopkeeper, Tom Flynn, was so confident of Friday’s result he told Connolly it was “the first time we ever have the president of Ireland here”.

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Fine Gael's Heather Humphreys, Simon Harris and Frank Feighan PA PA

Humphreys took her campaigning to Sligo and Donegal today in a bid to convince voters she should take over from outgoing President Michael D Higgins.

She said: “It is so important we get that vote out tomorrow. Because I don’t believe one bit in those polls, don’t mind those polls. Tomorrow is the poll.”

Fine Gael leader and Tánaiste Simon Harris joined his party’s candidate on the campaign trail today, stating: “She won’t let you down.”

Speaking at an event in Donegal, he said: “The polls said Michael D Higgins was never going to be president – he won the election, he won twice and he did a very good job.

“Tomorrow, we’re going to defy all the sceptics, and we’re going to elect Heather Humphreys the 10th president of Ireland – but only with your help.”

He said “there’s a few people measuring the drapes” for Áras an Uachtaráin, telling canvassers that the “media don’t decide elections. Polls don’t decide elections. The people of Ireland decide elections”.

Harris said there’s a “big choice on the ballot tomorrow, and there’s a big message we get to send to the world tomorrow. Is this a country that is pro-European? Is this a country that values our allies, values our friends”. He added Ireland is not a “far-left” country. 

Earlier, at the Irish Country Living Women and Agriculture Conference in Rosses Point, Humphreys told local media that she had a “great campaign”, adding: “One thing I have learned is that we have a wonderful country and we should be very proud of it.”

With reporting from David Mac Redmond and Press Association