During the bruising campaign, he started as favourite in the opinion polls. But he then lost the lead because of a remarkable surge by a dark horse - Sean Gallagher, a television personality on Dragons' Den - whose emphasis on the entrepreneurial struck a chord in a country of high unemployment.
Even when behind in the polls, Higgins maintained a dignified demeanour. His stance, which he sustained despite moments of anxiety, was vindicated when Gallagher's campaign imploded three days before the vote.
The defining moment came last Tuesday. During a television debate, Gallagher responded unconvincingly to accusations he was more intimately connected than he had admitted to the Fianna Fail Party, a toxic political brand.
As a result, his phenomenal rise was followed by an equally phenomenal plunge, many of his supporters deserting him to join the Higgins camp. In the first count - Ireland uses proportional representation - Higgins had 40 per cent of the vote while Gallagher took 28 per cent.
In the end Higgins was declared the winner with nearly 57 per cent of votes.
Higgins said yesterday: "I feel a little overwhelmed. I'm very, very happy. It is something I prepared for, something I thought about for a long while. I hope it will be a presidency that will enable everybody to be part of and proud of."
The new President has the advantage of being personally popular both with the public and the political classes. While he is viewed as possessing gravitas, he is often satirised for his short stature (1.63m) and high-pitched voice which, together with his commitment to the arts, have brought him the nickname of Michael Twee. Local satirists sometimes depict him as an elf, hobbit or leprechaun talking in riddles and verse.
The accusation regarded as the killer blow to the Gallagher campaign came from Sinn Fein candidate Martin McGuinness, who unexpectedly entered the race. His intervention earned Sinn Fein the distinction of changing the election result.
McGuinness came third with 13.7 per cent, which was an advance on Sinn Fein's 10 per cent in a general election this year. Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Fein described it as a milestone election. She added: "There was a time when republicans would have been considered a marginal voice in southern politics, and we have changed that. Now we are part and parcel of the political fabric of this state, the political conversation, and for us it is very significant."
Age: 70
Life: Former Galway University lecturer and published poet who has dedicated his four-decade political career to championing Irish culture and left-wing human rights causes.
Politics: Member of the Labour Party, the junior member of Ireland's coalition government. Was arts minister in the mid-1990s, during which time he introduced tax breaks for film production in Ireland and a new TV channel to promote programming in Gaelic.
- Independent, AP
