Leaders of parties which backed the independent candidate have been congratulating her ahead of an expected decisive victory.

A male driver of one of the cars was fatally injured as a result of the collision, and his body has since been removed to the Naas mortuary, where a post-mortem will take place in due course.

The Fine Gael candidate said she had ‘no regrets’ about running for the Irish presidency.

Ms Humphreys told RTÉ: “Catherine will be a president for all of us, and she will be my president, and I really would like to wish her all the very, very best."

Coast Guard members brought a Garda and the box to the island by boat yesterday at 8.15am and collected them later in the day, just after 6pm.

The incident occurred in Co Down in the early hours of Saturday.

The two men are currently detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at garda stations in the Dublin region. 

Police are appealing for information about the incident in the city centre on Saturday.

The electoral commission has said there “will clearly be a need for deeper and further reflection” about why there were so many spoiled ballots in the presidential election.

It was reported to gardaí that two females had been assaulted in North Strand Road, north Dublin, on Friday.

Counting started at 9am in the presidential election

The choice is between three candidates, one of whom withdrew from campaigning three weeks ago.

Follow the presidential election results live here

38-year-old Terence Crosbie had pleaded not guilty to raping an American woman at the Omni Parker House hotel in Boston last year

The race for the Áras is a two-horse race between Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys.

A number of residents were evacuated from their homes in the Ardnamonagh Parade area in the west of the city.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald had joined the team when the alleged incident took place.

Daniel Hourigan (32) and Linda O'Flynn (32) have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Michael Foley in Macroom last year

Pilot Michal Luczak (44) denies importing €8.4 million of cocaine into the Midlands in 2022.

Mark Keane was injured while freeing a colleague who was trapped in a machine at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care's plant in Plassey, Co Limerick.