Catherine Connolly, a veteran lawmaker on the far left of the Irish political spectrum, was elected president by a landslide margin on Saturday in a stinging rebuke to the recently re-elected centre-right coalition.
Connolly, 68, a long-time critic of the European Union in overwhelmingly pro-EU Ireland
backed by the left-dominated opposition, was not a
household name and was underestimated by many at the start of the contest for the largely ceremonial role.
