Race for the Áras heats up with just days to go before polling

Fine Gael steps up attacks on Catherine Connolly ahead of candidates' final media debate on Tuesday's 'Prime Time' 

Independent Galway West TD and presidential election candidate Catherine Connolly meeting people in Miltown Malbay, Co Clare, during a canvass on Saturday. Picture: Eamon Ward

The heat has been turned up in the presidential election, with attacks becoming increasingly more personal with just days to go before polling.

Under pressure to bridge a widening gap in the opinion polls, Fine Gael candidate Heather Humphreys accused her opponent, Independent TD Catherine Connolly, of “making money out of people’s misfortunes” as she continued to question her role as a barrister working on behalf of banks.