The President of Ireland (Uachtarán na hÉireann) is Ireland’s Head of State and is elected for a term of seven years. The president can run for re-election and may serve a maximum of two terms.

President Michael D Higgins has now served two terms – he was first elected in November, 2011, and was re-elected in October, 2018.

How does the presidential election work? Kate Byrne explains how. Video: Dan Dennison

Who can be president of Ireland?

To be eligible to run in the election, you must be an Irish citizen aged 35 years or older.

The much trickier part is that, to qualify to be a candidate, you must be nominated by one of the following:

20 members of the Oireachtas (there are 174 TDs and 60 Senators).

At least four local authorities (Ireland has 31 local authorities – 26 county councils, three city councils, and two councils that oversee a city and a county - Limerick and Waterford).

Former or retiring presidents can nominate themselves.

Who wanted to be a candidate for this presidential election?

It is relatively easy to be a candidate in other Irish elections, such as those to elect a county councillor or TD. However, because of the restrictive nomination process for the Irish presidency, many candidates fail before their presidential campaign has a chance to get going at all.

Over the past year, many names were linked to a run for the office. Some would deny they ever considered it seriously; others would actively campaign for a nomination.

The list included Billy Kelleher, Mary Hanafin and Bertie Ahern of Fianna