Poet 'edging ahead' in Irish presidential race

Counting began Friday in Ireland's presidential election with 70-year-old Michael D. Higgins apparently edging ahead of businessman Sean Gallagher after an acrimonious campaign. Observers said the race was close after Thursday's voting but bookmaker Paddy Power cut its odds on Higgins after the previous front-runner, businessman Sean Gallagher, became embroiled in a fund-raising row. The winner will succeed Belfast-born Mary McAleese, who has served the maximum two seven-year terms as the figurehead of the country which required an 85-billion-euro ($120 billion) international bailout last year. Higgins appears to have benefited from the row which was sparked when former IRA commander Martin McGuinness accused Gallagher of accepting a donation from a convicted fuel smuggler for Gallagher's former party, Fianna Fail. No exit polls have been carried out, but the final poll before the stormy TV debate put Gallagher, standing as an independent, on 40 percent with Higgins lagging behind on 25 percent. The shaven-headed Gallagher campaigned on a promise to use his business experience to help attract investment to Ireland while Higgins, known in Ireland simply as "Michael D.", is a former arts minister who has written two books of poetry. On Friday, Paddy Power had Higgins as favourite at odds of 2/7 followed by Gallagher at 9/4. Each of Ireland's 43 constituencies will count their votes separately, and then report them to the central count centre in Dublin Castle. No exit polls were carried out to give a clear indication of the turnout when voters went to the polls. A system of proportional representation with a single transferable vote is used. Voters rank candidates in order of their preference. Candidates are eliminated one by one and their votes redistributed until one has an absolute majority. Returning officer Riona Ni Fhlanghaile said a full result might not come until Saturday. "If there is the possibility of getting a result (for the presidency) not too late Friday or early Saturday morning we would probably go the whole way. "But if it is looking like it is running a lot later we will have to consider adjournment until Saturday. It is rather unpredictable at this stage," she told RTE.