Ireland is going to the polls on October 26 for a presidential election which will see five challengers including the popular incumbent Michael D Higgins. a veteran Irish politician, originally a member of the Labour party, who is also well known as a poet. He has served as Irish president since 2011.

Among other candidates is Liadh Ní Riada a Sinn Fein politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2014, businessman Sean Gallagher,  Joan Freeman, Gavin Duffy and Peter Casey. 

It is highly likely Michael D Higgins will be returned for a second term. His popularity in Ireland has been confirmed by a number of opinion polls across 2018, many of which showed that people still valued having an election, even though they wanted him to remain as president.

A poll published by the Sunday Business Post on 16 September showed Higgins on 67 per cent, with Sean Gallagher on 15 per cent, Liadh Ni Riada on 7 per cent, Gavin Duffy on 6 per cent, Joan Freeman on 3 per cent and Peter Casey on 1 per cent.

Source: Independent