29/10/2011 11:21
Higgins wins presidential elections in Ireland
Human rights activist and poet Michael D. Higgins headed for victory Friday in Ireland's presidential election as the Irish picked a left-wing idealist to be the new face of a debt-struck nation, the Association Press reported.
Higgins' main challenger, business guru and reality TV celebrity Sean Gallagher, conceded defeat in a telephone call to Higgins. Gallagher said he expected Higgins would be, as his own campaign slogan promised, "a president to be proud of."
Higgins, 70, was mobbed by well-wishers and journalists as he arrived at the Dublin Castle count center. Minutes later, electoral officials announced he had received 39.6 percent of all first-preference votes to take an unassailable lead atop the field of seven candidates.