Higgins likely to be re-elected as Irish president: poll

DUBLIN -- The incumbent Irish President Michael D. Higgins is likely to win a second term in the coming presidential election, according to a poll published here on Wednesday.

The poll conducted by Irish Times, one of the most influential daily newspapers in Ireland, showed that 66 percent of the people surveyed said that they would support Higgins in the presidential election scheduled on next Friday, October 26, taking a huge lead over five other presidential candidates.

The five other presidential candidates include three businessmen, namely Sean Gallagher, Gavin Duffy and Peter Casey, and two female candidates, namely Liadh Ni Riada, a candidate fielded by the opposition party of Sinn Fein, and the independent senator Joan Freeman.

According to the poll, the support for Sean Gallagher in the next week's presidential election will only stand at 12 percent, followed by Liadh Ni Riada (11 percent), Joan Freeman (5 percent), Gavin Duffy (4 percent) and Peter Casey (2 percent).

The poll was conducted by Irish Times last week in face-to-face interviews with 1,200 voters aged 18 and above at 120 sampling points in all constituencies across the country.

If Higgins, 77, will win the coming presidential election as it is showed by the latest poll, it will be his second term as the country's president. Higgins became the Irish president in November 2011. His decision to run for the second term has been supported by the ruling party of Fine Gael and the country's second largest political party of Finna Fail.

The Irish President holds office for seven years and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.