Will there be a landslide shift in Irish politics?

Election is first big milestone for a united left

- BY CIARA O'LOUGHLIN

Maria Steen

AS I walked into the RDS count centre in Dublin last Saturday it was eerily quiet, a calm I hadn't witnessed in last year's General Election or in 2020.

The hustle and bustle wasn't there, and that's because it wasn't even 10am yet and it was clear Independent Catherine Connolly was set to win by a landslide.

While opinion polls set out that the Independent TD had it in the bag towards the end of campaigning, they were still fairly off. She was placed 15 to 19 percentage points above her opponent Heather Humphreys.

But results saw over 100% more voters give Ms Connolly their first preference compared to the Fine Gael candidate.

From both sides of the political spectrum, the government parties received a massive middle finger.

It was a historic election for spoiled votes, as 12.5% were deemed invalid.

While the RDS centre was lacking in liveliness on Saturday, the talk turned to these non-votes.

Conservative campaigner Maria Steen was written on ballots, and even drawn, while Aontu leader Peadar Toibin also admitted he spoiled his vote.

But on the other side of the spectrum, over half of the country voted for a candidate wholly supportive of the Triple Lock, who values more abortion rights for women and hopes for a border poll within her seven-year term.