Independent candidate Catherine Connolly has long condemned Brussels push for military buildup

Independent candidate Catherine Connolly, a long-time advocate of Irish military neutrality and a critic of NATO's expansion and EU militarization, has won Ireland's presidential election in a landslide.

The ballot count was still underway when Connolly's main rival, Heather Humphreys, conceded defeat after early tallies showed her trailing by a wide margin. Preliminary results put Connolly ahead by 63% to 29%.

"Catherine will be a president for all of us and she will be my president," Humphreys told journalists.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin also formally congratulated Connolly on what he said "will be a very comprehensive election victory."

Although an independent, the 68-year-old former Galway mayor was supported by major left-wing parties, including Sinn Fein and Labour.

Connolly's success was largely been attributed to capturing the youth vote, effective outreach, and social-media presence, amid growing anger over Ireland's housing and cost-of-living crises.

During the campaign, she emphasized Irish neutrality and criticized the EU's push to expand militarization at the expense of social welfare. While critical of Russia in the Ukraine conflict, she has argued that NATO "warmongering" played a role in the crisis.

Last month, Connolly compared Germany's push to boost its economy by "championing the cause of the military industrial complex" to its rearmament in the 1930s under the Nazis. "Seems to me, there are some parallels with the '30s," she said at a discussion at University College Dublin.

Moscow has long criticized Brussels' accelerating military buildup, arguing the EU was essentially transforming into an aggressive, military and political extension of NATO.

While the president is the formal head of state in Ireland, a parliamentary democracy, the role is seen as largely symbolic. However, the presidency does hold a few key powers, including the ability to refer bills to the nation's top court to determine constitutionality, as well as the power to dissolve the lower chamber of parliament and call for new elections in the event a prime minister loses majority support.

(RT.com)