Clare’s electorate have backed Catherine Connolly in a landslide as the next Uachtaráin na hEireann.
The incumbent Galway West TD, but soon to be the country’s first citizen, received 61% of this county’s first preference vote, with 27% going to Heather Humphreys and 12% to Jim Gavin, which despite his withdrawal from campaigning, was his best result out of all 43 constituencies nationwide.
There was also a targeted Spoil the Vote campaign to take into account for this election and of the 44,911 votes cast in Clare, 4,766 (10.6%) were registered as invalid.
In Clare, Maria Steen featured prominently on spoilt ballots, while less prominent features included Enoch Burke, Donald Trump, Santa Claus, Scooby Doo, Bob Geldoff, Michael Flatley, Gerry Hutch and Bosco, along with photographs of Willie O’Dea and Charlie Haughey.
Overall, Clare’s voter turnout was 47.5%, above the national average of 45.8%.
While Catherine Connolly easily coasted to victory in Clare, nationally a new record was also set of 63.4% FPVs and 914,143 ballots.
Across the country 12.9% of votes were spoiled, also a national record and reaching up to 20% in some constituencies.
