A 70-year-old poet is expected to be Ireland's next president following the decision by his key rival to concede defeat in the nation's election.
Michael D Higgins will be Ireland's ninth president after one of the most dramatic political comebacks in the history of the state.
The Labour Party veteran, peace campaigner and former arts minister, seized an unprecedented swing in support following the spectacular implosion of his biggest rival on live television.
Mr Higgins declared his triumph was built on a left-leaning campaign while his seven-year term will be marked by inclusion, ideas and transformation.
His resounding victory appeared certain within hours of ballot boxes being opened in a massive voter swing just days after early favourite Sean Gallagher publicly derailed during a TV debate.
"I feel a little overwhelmed," Mr Higgins, who is also the president of Galway United football club, said.
"I'm very, very happy. It is something I prepared for, something I thought about for a long while.
"I am very glad as well that it is a presidency built on a campaign that emphasised ideas. I hope it will be a presidency that will enable everybody to be part of and proud of."
Mr Higgins secured the victory for Labour - the second in a day as the party edged towards a by-election win - after the other six candidates conceded defeat.
He took 40% of the poll, 701,101 votes out of 1.77 million, on the first count.
Mr Gallagher, the opinion poll topper with a 15-point margin less than a week ago, saw his support vanish to 28% in a stunning defeat blamed on his ties to Fianna Fail, the party most associated with Ireland's economic demise.
But the businessman refused to criticise.
"These are campaigns and this is the nature of a campaign," Mr Gallagher said.
Mr Higgins will be inaugurated on Armistice Day, November 11, the day after current president Mary McAleese leaves office.
Amid hectic scenes at the national count centre in Dublin Castle, Mr Higgins said the ideas of his rivals would be incorporated into his term as president.
While his campaign was born out of an ethos of the left, he said he would serve as a president for all of the people whether they voted for him or not.
With wife Sabina and children Daniel, John, Alice Mary and Michael Junior, at his side he described the prospect as exciting and wonderful.
Runner-up Mr Gallagher would not blame the man who derailed his seemingly unassailable campaign on live TV last Monday.
The businessman - a former fundraiser for the Fianna Fail party which was widely blamed for the country's economic woes - ran into a storm of controversy amid allegations he was a "bag man" soliciting and collecting donations.
Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness , who was third in the poll securing a tactical victory, dropped the bombshell that Mr Gallagher had requested and personally received a 5,000-euro (£4,390) cheque from a businessman with a conviction for tax fraud and fuel smuggling.
Mr McGuinness, who is to return to his role as Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, later dismissed suggestions that his run was for tactical, party political reasons.
"I was in the contest to win," he said.
"But I think it's been a tremendous experience and it is something I will remember for the rest of my life - but my political career isn't over."
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