An exit poll conducted in the Republic of Ireland indicates that Sinn Féin has garnered 21.1% of first preference votes, closely followed by Fine Gael at 21%, rendering the outcome of the general election highly uncertain.
According to the poll, Fianna Fáil has received 19.5% of first preference votes.
Additionally, the poll suggests that 20% of second preference votes are allocated to both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, while Sinn Féin accounts for 17%.
This exit poll was released at 22:00 local time and was executed by Ipsos B&A for RTÉ, The Irish Times, TG4, and Trinity College Dublin, with a margin of error of 1.4%. In the 2020 Irish general election, Sinn Féin achieved 24.53% of first preference votes, while Fianna Fáil secured 22.18% and Fine Gael obtained 20.86%. The recent poll shows that the Green Party has a first preference support of 4%, Labour at 5%, the Social Democrats at 5.8%, People Before Profit-Solidarity at 3.1%, and Independents at 12.7%, with Independent Ireland at 2.2% and others at 1.9%.
The poll is based on 5,018 completed interviews conducted immediately after voters cast their ballots at polling stations in 43 constituencies throughout the Republic of Ireland.
What are the next steps?
The results from this poll pave the way for the official vote counting, which is set to commence at 09:00 local time on Saturday and is anticipated to extend throughout the weekend.
It is possible that some of the 43 constituencies may not report a final result until the beginning of the following week.
The successful candidates, known as Teachtaí Dála (TDs), will fill 174 seats, although the Ceann Comhairle (speaker) is automatically returned.
Over 680 candidates vied for the remaining 173 seats.
A total of 88 seats is necessary for an overall majority; however, no single party is presenting enough candidates to secure a majority independently.
