Counting of votes has begun in the general elections as per exit polls

The Irish general elections have started to tally ballots, and according to Al Jazeera, exit polls indicate that the three major parties will compete closely, with Sinn Fein, the left-wing opposition, leading by a slim margin.

On Saturday, the vote count began at 9:00 GMT, and throughout the day, partial results were anticipated. However, because of Ireland’s proportional representation system, which involves redistributing the votes of eliminated candidates across many rounds of counting, the outcome may not be known for days.

Ipsos B&A’s exit poll on Friday showed that Sinn Fein, a party that supports Irish unity, had 21.1% of the vote. According to the Al Jazeera article, Ireland’s two center-right parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, who were coalition partners in the last administration, received 19.5% and 21% of the vote, respectively, according to Ipsos B&A.

According to Dublin City University political scientist Eoin O’Malley, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are likely to stay in power if the survey is accurate. According to her, in order to obtain an 88-seat majority, the two coalition partners will still need the backing of a number of minor parties.

Mary Lou McDonald, the president of Sinn Fein, describes Friday’s elections as “a historic day where we can elect a new government for change” and has voiced optimism that her party would be able to unseat the center-right.

The prime ministership alternated between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael leaders throughout the previous legislative session, with Simon Harris of the latter party most recently holding the role.

When Harris (38), the youngest Taoiseach or prime minister of Ireland, called for a sudden election, he was in a strong position. But when a video of him acting dismissively and rudely with a care worker on the campaign trail went viral, his party lost support.

Anger over immigration, the housing and cost-of-living issues, and public expenditure characterized the three-week election campaign. The two center-right parties emphasized that voting for them in the elections would guarantee stability, especially in light of the unrest elsewhere and the possibility of foreign shocks. They also emphasized their pro-business and pro-EU credentials.

Ireland’s economy is reliant on corporate tax returns and foreign direct investment, especially from US IT and pharmaceutical companies. Concern for Ireland’s economic model has been raised, meanwhile, by US President-elect Donald Trump’s vows to levy import tariffs and repatriate corporate taxes of US companies from countries like Ireland.

Sinn Fein won the popular vote in the 2020 general election. But after weeks of horsetrading, she was unable to recruit coalition partners to form the government, and Fine Gael took control in 2011 after agreeing to an agreement with Fianna Fail, according to Al Jazeera.

As immigration became a significant electoral topic, McDonald’s Sinn Fein witnessed a decline in popularity in 2023 as a result of her progressive views on social problems and immigration policies, according to Al Jazeera. It did, however, rally behind a campaign that was mostly about housing policy and claimed to be the sole alternative to Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, who had been in power alternately since Irish independence from the UK in 1921.