Galway's Catherine Connolly is the new front runner in the presidential race as Maireád McGuinness has pulled out on medical grounds
The former EU Commissioner said she was doing so on medical advice after spending time in hospital last week.
Mairead McGuinness has been leading the polls so her decision means second-placed Catherine Connolly of Galway is the new front runner
The announcement this afternoon came as a massive shock to the political system with Mairead McGuinness having been the favourite to replace Michael D Higgins later this year.
She said she hadn't taken the decision to withdraw lightly and it came after spending time last week in hospital.
Ms McGuinness said her priority is now her health and she doesn't feel she has the strength to give the campaign her all.
Tánaiste and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said the news came as an awful shock to him and the party and he wished her the very best on her health journey.
He said Fine Gael's National Council will meet in the coming days to consider the party's position.
The move blows the race for the Presidency wide open and leaves Independent Catherine Connolly as the only candidate with enough support currently to get onto the ballot.
In a statement just issued Galway West Deputy Catherine Connolly described the withdrawal as as a ‘shock’.
The Independent candidate extended her best wishes to Mairead McGuinness, saying it 'could not have been an easy decision to make’.
