In Ireland, the counting of votes after the general election started today. Shortly after the election yesterday, difficult government formation was already emerging.
According to a post-election survey of around 5,000 voters, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s party, Fine Gael, had 22.4 percent of the vote. The Republican Sinn Fein party got 22.3 percent, while the opposition party Fianna Fail got 22.2 percent of the vote.
The counting of votes could take several days due to the complicated electoral process. The two center-right parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who have almost always alternated between the government or governed since Ireland’s independence almost a century ago, are now obviously on par with the left-wing Sinn Fein.
Sinn Fein is striving for a united Ireland – with Northern Ireland, which is part of Great Britain. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have ruled out cooperation with the party, the former political wing of the Irish underground organization IRA.
