DUBLIN: Irish poet and former minister Michael D. Higgins will become the country's next president after the 70-year-old's main election rival conceded defeat on Friday.
Independent candidate and businessman Sean Gallagher threw in the towel following Thursday's election to find a successor to Mary McAleese in the largely ceremonial post.
"I've called Michael D. Higgins to congratulate him on his performance and his success in this election," Gallagher said in a statement.
"He will have my full support as president and I sincerely thank him for a positive campaign. His slogan stated that he would be a president to be proud of and I believe he will be that president," Gallagher added.
With results in from 35 of Ireland's 43 constituencies, Higgins has 41 percent of valid first preference votes, with Gallagher on 27 percent.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness, the former IRA paramilitary commander who is now the deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, was on 13 percent, followed by the four other candidates.
The outcome represents a remarkable turnaround for former arts minister Higgins, who was trailing far behind Gallagher in opinion polls going into the final week of campaigning.
But Gallagher, a shaven-headed entrepreneur, saw his lead melt away after McGuinness accused him of collecting a 5,000-euro ($7,000) donation from a convicted criminal in a stormy live televised debate on Monday.
Gallagher bitterly denied having handled it and accused McGuinness of launching a "political assassination" attempt, but the damage was done.
The implication was that Gallagher was more deeply involved than he said with Fianna Fail, his former party which lost heavily in February's general election as it took the blame for Ireland's economic crisis.
McGuinness also sent his congratulations to Higgins, who will get the keys to the Aras an Uachtarain, the president's smart official residence in Dublin's Phoenix Park.
"He will make a fine president and I wish him well for his seven years in the Aras," McGuinness said, adding that he was delighted with his own share of the vote, having topped the poll in the Donegal North-East constituency.
"My message of positive leadership, patriotism and commitment clearly was resonating with tens of thousands of ordinary Irish people," he said.
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said McGuinness's vote share had narrowed the gap beween politics in the south and Northern Ireland, where they have a greater foothold.
Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore, the Labour leader, said Higgins had attracted "much greater" support than the party ever got.
"That is a great tribute to him, all the work he has done down the years," he said.
He said he was surprised by Gallagher's poll lead, "because the response we were getting in campaigning was much stronger for Michael D. Higgins."
The president is responsible for representing the country, receiving foreign heads of state and making visits abroad to promote Irish interests and strengthen links with the large global diaspora.
As the ninth president, Higgins will succeed Belfast-born McAleese, who has served the maximum two seven-year terms as the figurehead of the republic which required an 85 billion euro ($120 billion) international bailout last year.
He is a veteran intellectual who has written two volumes of poetry and who first entered parliament in 1973.
Independent Senator David Norris, the first openly gay presidential candidate, was likely to finish fourth.
Turnout was at 56 percent. More than 3.1 million people were eligible to vote.
The single transferable vote system was used, whereby voters rank candidates in order of preference. Candidates are eliminated in turn and their votes redistributed until one has an absolute majority.
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