Catherine Connolly got very, very fortunate in her opponents but she was also bold enough to make her own luck. At a personal level, Connolly thoroughly deserves her landslide victory. Yet even as she savours her deserved victory, Connolly cannot be unaware that she was also soundly trounced by the real winner: indifference. For after this unprecedented election, a very large body of the Irish citizenry is left feeling un-presidented. If she can repeat that feat in office, she will do much to shore up a democracy endangered by complacency.
