Independent candidate Seán Gallagher has said he is proud of his second place finish in the presidential election.
Speaking at Dublin Castle ahead of the announcement of the final result of the election, Mr Gallagher, who finished with a total of 628,114 votes, said: "I am not disappointed, I am uplifted.
"I think we ran a great campaign with no negative campaigning and a great result," he said. "I am very proud of that and my team and the volunteers in every single part of the country who believed in a message of positivity and confidence in the future. For me, that augurs well for Ireland.
Asked if the campaign had gone wrong for him after the RTÉ Frontline debate, where Martin McGuinness raised questions about his Fianna Fáil fundraising activities, Mr Gallagher said there would be time for postmortems and reflections in the future.
He did not rule out running again for public office in the future. "It is an end to one journey and perhaps it may be the beginning of another . . . I'm not making any decision about anything except taking a few days off to rest and recuperate."
"When I started this campaign five months ago I did not have a political organisation. . . . Yet we built a tremendously powerful team and anything the team lacked in political experience they made up in commitment and passion."
Mr Gallagher said it was a great day for president-elect Michael D Higgins and his family.
"Michael D has given 40 years of his life to public service, and this is a great day for him," he said. "I know he will do us proud. He is a very honourable and has shown great dignity throughout this campaign.
