By Tony O’Riley-
Dublin- Sinn Féin is currently winning the most first preference votes with 24.5% compared to 22.2% for Fianna Fáil and 20.9% for Fine Gael. No single party is expected to win enough seats for an outright majority. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil ruled out forming a government with Sinn Féin, citing its tax policies and IRA past as deterrents.
Sinn Fein, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are all predicted to win more than 20% of the national vote based on an estimated 33% of results of constituencies which have completed their counting. However, the indecisive outcome signal the end of the two party system that has historically characterised Irish politics for decades. The Irish public are believed to have increasingly become disillusioned with the political duopoly, potentially opening the door to a new era comprising a coalition government. Mystery surrounds which parties will constitute the coalition or whether the Irish public may be forced into a fresh election.
On Sunday evening taoiseach (Irish PM) and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar said it would be challenging to form a government, as ballot boxes from all 39 constituencies were opened at 08.00 on Sunday.Most of the counting, but not all, were finalised on Sunday evening, with many continuing into Monday .Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin did not rule out working with Sinn Féin, but said “significant incompatibilities” still existed.
Sinn Féin ran 42 candidates across the 39 multi-seat constituencies, about half that of both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, which will have a knock-on effect on the number of seats it can secure in the 160-seat Dáil (Irish parliament) where 80 seats are needed for a majority. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said she was exploring options to see if it would be possible to form a government without either Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil.
Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar was emphatic that his party has always ruled out the possibility off forming a coalition with Sinn Féin “in large part because of their policies in relation to crime, tax, and the way the economy and society should be run and also our deep concerns about their democratic structures.
Image: Aidan Crawley/EPA