MICHAEL D Higgins looks almost certain to remain as Irish president after voters go to the polls on Friday.
According to several opinion polls, Mr Higgins has the backing of more than two-thirds of the electorate, with one poll putting him on 70 per cent support.
The most recent poll, carried out by Red C on behalf of the Sunday Business Post, had Mr Higgins's support at 68 per cent.
His closest competitor, Seán Gallagher, is lagging far behind on 12 per cent followed by Sinn Féin's Liadh Ní Riada on 9%.
Joan Freeman's support is at 6 per cent and Gavin Duffy's at 3 per cent
Derry businessman Peter Casey is on 2 per cent support. However, the poll was carried out before Mr Casey's verbal attacks on the Travelling community and benefit claimants were widely reported.
If Mr Higgins is returned for a second term on Friday, he will be 84 by the time his tenure ends in 2025.
This will make him the oldest president since Eamon de Valera, who was 90 when his second term finished in 1973.
Seán T. O'Kelly, who served as the second Irish president between 1945 and 1959, was 76 when his term ended.
With Mr Higgins's second term almost certain, the presidential campaign has proved uneventful, marked only by Mr Casey's divisive comments.
The election will be held on the same date as the referendum on blasphemy which could see the repeal of the 37th amendment of the constitution.
This year's presidential campaign is in contrast to the 2011 election when Mr Higgins had to battle high-profile rivals including Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness, who eventually came third, academic David Norris and Eurovision winner Dana Rosemary Scallon.
Historian and Irish News columnist Brian Feeney said few of the candidates "were credible".
He also questioned why Sinn Féin decided to put forward a candidate at all.
"They thought it was an open goal because neither Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil were standing," he said.
"But they (Sinn Féin) have not widely campaigned as a party.
"It's completely different to when Martin McGuinness stood (in 2011). Liadh Ní Riada is not widely known outside her own (European Parliament) area of Ireland South."
Mr Feeney said the presidential landscape has changed hugely since Mary Robinson was elected in 1990.
"In the last 20 years there hasn't been a party political figure (as president)," he said.
"Mary Robinson was a Labour candidate and Mary McAleese was a Fianna Fáil candidate but neither of them came from within the parties. They were both outsiders."
Dr Frank Costello, a friend of Mr Higgins, said he had shown "great humanity" as president.
He said the president has been a stabilising presence during a difficult political time.
"Whether on his many visits to the north or as a host for a delegation of young people from the Bredagh GAA club, or spending an extra hour to engage with the children at the Glentoran Football Club’s youth presentation day in east Belfast, he conveys a genuine interest in helping people," he said.
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood yesterday reiterated his party's support for Mr Higgins.
"When far too much of our political discourse has been reduced to the level of simplistic, reactionary and visceral soundbite, President Higgins has in contrast elevated our expectation of the language and the depth of thought properly required for the duty of high office," he said.
- Polls in the Irish presidential election open this Friday, October 26, from 7am to 10pm.
