Tallies across the country are indicating a sizable win for Catherine Connolly in the Presidential Election.

On a brief visit to the Galway West count centre in Salthill, the Shantalla woman said while celebrations would be premature, “pride is coming”.

The Galway West Deputy is tearing ahead in tallies for her home constituency, with more than 80% of votes going in her direction in some city boxes – 84% of number one votes tallied from Presentation Primary School were for Deputy Connolly.

“I went to Presentation School so I’m delighted,” said the Independent candidate.

Thanking her supporters, Deputy Connolly said she understood those who hadn’t backed her to become the next President of Ireland.

“I want to thank all my supporters and I want to thank everybody – even those that didn’t vote for me. I understand their concerns in relation as to who will represent them best and I will do my upmost to represent everybody,” she said.

Tallying continues at Lawn Tennis Club in Salthill, with the first official count expected to get underway at around midday.

Fine Gael’s Heather Humphreys trails the Deputy Connolly. A large number of spoiled votes are being recorded in tallies – outnumbering the number of votes for Ms Humphreys in some boxes.

A full first count is expected to conclude in Galway West at around 3pm, and it is anticipated that the winner will be declared at Dublin Castle this evening.