TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has issued his congratulations to Catherine Connolly on her impending win in the presidential election.

In a statement, Martin wrote that it “is clear she will be the next President of Ireland” and said she “ran a successful and impactful campaign”.

“The people have made their choice, and I have no doubt Catherine Connolly will serve the country well,” he wrote. The Taoiseach also paid tribute to Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys and his own former candidate Jim Gavin. 

“As Taoiseach, I look forward to working with the new President in the time ahead as Ireland continues to play a significant role on the global stage, and as we look forward to hosting the EU Presidency in the second half of 2026,” he added.

Over at Dublin Castle, Tánaiste Simon Harris told reporters he doesn’t believe anything “backfired” in his party’s presidential campaign as Fine Gael conceded its loss early today.

Simon Harris says he isn’t sure anything ‘backfired’ in the FG campaign pic.twitter.com/Brw5r2iby0

— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) October 25, 2025

Harris denied that Fine Gael’s dissemination of a video on social media titled “Catherine Connolly’s hypocrisy” and its focus on her previous work as a barrister was either part of a smear campaign or was a move that dragged its candidate Heather Humphreys down.

“I’m not sure anything backfired, to be very blunt,” Harris said. “In many ways the video asked the questions that many of you [journalists] were asking. If the new bar in terms of political commentary is that you can’t issue anything on social media that is critical of your political opponent, I’m sure you’ll review all the content that is issued about me on a weekly basis by opposition parties,” he said.

“The election’s over so I don’t want to relitigate it. But I think it’s perfect appropriate to ask questions of your opponent.”

He said both candidates “were put through the wringer” by the media and the public have now made their decision. 

Speaking on RTÉ earlier, Harris had issued his congratulations to Connolly and said he thought she had run a “very good campaign”. 

“The keepie-uppies was an important moment,” he said, highlighting Connolly’s presence on podcasts, her campaign’s social media, and the sustained campaign.