Irish President Michael Higgins wins second term

LONDON (AP):

Michael Higgins handily won a second term as Ireland's president yesterday, capturing every constituency in an election that was marked by low turnout.

The 77-year-old Higgins received 55.8 per cent of the ballots cast in Friday's vote, which was contested by six candidates. The vote share was just below the record 56.3 per cent received by long-time independence leader Eamon de Valera in a two-way contest in 1959.

The Irish Independent newspaper estimated that turnout was less than 45 per cent, the lowest ever for a presidential election.

"The presidency belongs not only to any one person but to the people of Ireland," Higgins said after arriving at Dublin Castle with his wife Sabina. "I will be a president for all the people, for those who voted for me and those who did not."

Voters also overwhelmingly backed removing the offence of blasphemy from the Irish constitution. It was the latest in a series of measures that have seen the overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country step back from the religion's influence over government.

Ireland's president is the head of state, but his job is largely ceremonial in the parliamentary democracy led by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.