Post-election inquiries: Irish President Higgins re-elected

Dublin (APA / DPA) – Ireland is voiced after the first post-election polls on the tenure of its president, Michael D. Higgins, and on the abolition of a clause controversial blasphemy.

According to the almost uniform results of the TV election polls of RTE television and the Irish Times, outgoing President Higgins got 56 to 58% of the vote, ahead of businessman Peter Casey, a just under 21%. Higgins, 77, has been in post since 2011.

The result was even clearer in the referendum on the abolition of the paragraph on blasphemy in the constitution. Nearly 70% were in favor of deleting the paragraph, which makes blasphemy punishable.

In each case, approximately 3,400 voters were interviewed. The official election results are expected for Saturday.

As the Irish Times has indicated, in the 80 years since the introduction of this paragraph, no case has been opened for the alleged offense. In addition, the domination of the Catholic Church in the Republic of Ireland has declined considerably in recent decades. It was only in May that the Irish voted by a two-thirds majority to ease the strict prohibition of abortion in the country. In 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to introduce gay marriage by referendum.