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The Irish Election, which is due to take place on October 24, may be a two horse race between Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphrey's on paper, but the bookmakers are adamant that there will only be one winner when the results come in.
Bet365 have her at 1/25 on to take the election, while William Hill have the odds at 1/16.
Meanwhile, Heather Humphreys is at 9/1 at Bet365 and 8/1 with William Hill to earn a result and become the 10th president of Ireland.

Connolly’s Rise and the Power of Media

And it is easy to see why as well.
According to a recent Guardian article Catherine Connolly is labelled as the left-wing politician who was unknown to many months ago, but who has united a country.
The article stated: "Barring a last-minute political upset, Catherine Connolly, a name unfamiliar to most Irish people just a few months ago, is expected to become Ireland’s next head of state after a presidential election on Friday.
"Anger over a housing crisis and the cost of living, campaign blunders by the ruling centre-right coalition of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, rare unity in the leftwing opposition and deft use of social media have combined to make Connolly a symbol of change."

Connolly is an Independent, who has been backed by Sinn Féin, and who has been likened to Jeremy Corbyn by many.
She has embraced the election and has grown in stature during the run-in, and has also won the social media war, while getting her name and her message out there on podcasts throughout the build-up.

In fact she has appeared on The Blindboy Podcast, The Louise McSharry Podcast, How to Gael (hosted by Síomha Ní Ruairc, Louise Cantillon, and Doireann Ní Ghlacáin), Joe Brolly’s Free State podcast, Síle Seoige’s Ready to be Real, and James Kavanagh and William Murray’s The Simple Life.
She also did a live podcast episode for online publication The Ditch.

Humphreys’ Determination and the Battle for the Centre

In comparison, her opponent, Heather Humphreys, has mainly shunned the podcast route, one so famously embraced by Donald Trump during his US Election win last year.
Despite her approach seeing her win many fans, and many votes it looks like as well, Connolly is refusing to admit the race is run already.

Speaking about the election this week she said: "There is no complacency in my team or with me. We are encouraging people to come out and use their voice and to vote for me. Based on my record, people know I’m a very hard worker and have always framed my contributions in human rights, advocating for a rights-based society."

Meanwhile, Heather Humphreys is adamant that floating voters could see the election turn out very differently than people are expecting.
She said this week: “I would say to people, please come out and vote on Friday, and I’m saying very clearly to them that I’m a centre-ground, pro-European, pro-business, common-sense person, and I will bring all of those skills and all of the experience I’ve gained throughout my life… to the office of the presidency.
“I really am asking people to put their trust in me, because I certainly won’t let them down on the international stage, whether it’s representing this country, both diplomatically, culturally, or opening doors for Irish businesses.”

Ms Humphreys replied “I sure do” when asked if she still believed she could win the race for the presidency.
She said: “It’s a two-horse race, and I’m asking people in the centre-ground to please come out and vote."

A Controversial Campaign Nears Its End

Whoever does win, the end of the election will come as a relief to many after a controversial period leading up to it.
At the start of October Jim Gavin withdrew from the race after revelations about an unpaid debt to a former tenant which then turned the election into an unpredictable two-horse race between a centre-right former government minister and an independent left-wing member of parliament.

That has been followed by a war of words between the two camps remaining, with Heather Humphreys coming out this week to deny any reports of a smear campaign being run by her team.
She told the BBC: "It certainly is not a smear campaign. And if you want to know about smear, we've all experienced what's happening on social media."
She added "people from the far left" are saying "horrible things about me and my family and my religion".

As with all elections recently the bad blood has spilt over into social media as well, with many just wanting a result on Saturday night to bring harmony back to politics in Ireland.
The bookmakers are convinced that it will be Catherine Connolly doing just that, but Heather Humphrey's is adamant that anything can happen on election day.