AlHijjah 2, 1432, Oct 29, 2011, SPA -- Labour candidate Michael D Higgins was declared theelected president of Ireland Saturday, as officials completed thecount at Dublin Castle, dpa reported. Higgins got 39.6 per cent of first-preference votes and waselected after the fourth count with a total of 1,007,104 votes. His nearest rival, independent candidate Sean Gallagher, gained28.5 per cent of the vote in Thursday's election to replace MaryMcAleese. Sinn Fein candidate and Northern Ireland's Deputy First MinisterMartin McGuinness came in third, with 13.7 per cent of the vote.
