{"id":20012,"date":"2024-12-01T11:26:46","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T11:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=20012"},"modified":"2024-12-01T11:26:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T11:26:46","slug":"counting-continues-in-irish-general-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=20012","title":{"rendered":"Counting continues in Irish general election"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"PAPA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Counting gets under way at a centre in Cork<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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The leaders of the three main Irish political parties have all been re-elected to serve in the D\u00e1il (Irish parliament).<\/p>\n

So far, 45 of the D\u00e1il’s 174 seats have been filled, with counting resuming on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Miche\u00e1l Martin of Fianna F\u00e1il, Simon Harris of Fine Gael, and the Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald have overcome their first obstacles in the Irish general election<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, they all face an even bigger challenge – to try to form the next government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have served together in the outgoing government, and after the first day of counting votes, they seem well placed to return to government.<\/p>\n

If they agree to do so, they may need the support of one of the smaller parties or a number of the many independent TDs who are expected to be elected as the counting of votes continues on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in says it also wants to be in the next government, and the party is ready to speak to other parties and independents.<\/p>\n

But, based on current predictions, the scale of the challenge facing Sinn F\u00e9in is enormous.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"PAPA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il leader Miche\u00e1l Martin was the first party leader to be re-elected on Saturday <\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Political pundits are currently predicting that Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael could secure a combined total of more than 80 seats – within touching distance of the golden figure of 88 TDs needed to secure a majority in the D\u00e1il.<\/p>\n

The same pundits believe Sinn F\u00e9in could secure around 40 seats.<\/p>\n

But even if it achieves that, it will still be well short of what is required for a D\u00e1il majority.<\/p>\n

In that case, Sinn F\u00e9in would have to look towards the smaller parties and independents.<\/p>\n

However the smaller parties are expected to be in single figures when all their TDs are finally confirmed.<\/p>\n

If it turns to independents, it will find a very disparate cohort of TDs.<\/p>\n

To find common cause in such a situation will be another big challenge for the party.<\/p>\n

To compound matters, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have insisted that they are not interested in sharing power with Sinn F\u00e9in because of fundamental policy differences on a range of issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Exit poll reversal<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Analysis – BBC News NI political editor Enda McClafferty<\/b><\/p>\n

The race to government has yet to reach the half way point but the final result is starting to take shape.<\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il is on course to finish as the largest party, with Fine Gael favourite to fill the runners up spot just ahead of Sinn F\u00e9in.<\/p>\n

As it stands, with just two of the 43 first counts to be completed, Fianna F\u00e1il has a vote share of 21.6%, Fine Gael has 20.7% and Sinn F\u00e9in has 18.7%.<\/p>\n

If that order remains after the final count, it will reverse the exit poll prediction<\/a> which had Sinn F\u00e9in in front and Fianna F\u00e1il in third.<\/p>\n

Although more than two thirds of seats have yet to be filled Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael look set to return to the government benches.<\/p>\n

If they end up with a combined total of 80 plus seats, they may look to the Labour Party or independent TDs to shore up the government.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in is still talking up the prospect of leading a left-leaning coalition but it will struggle to get the numbers needed on current predictions.<\/p>\n

Despite what McDonald described as an \u201cincredible\u201d performance by her party she could find herself back on the opposition benches.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘Sensational political masterclass’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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\"PAPA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Fine Gael is favourite to fill the runners up spot just ahead of Sinn F\u00e9in<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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This all means that Sinn F\u00e9in may have to engineer a sensational political masterclass if it is to enter government in the Republic of Ireland for the first time.<\/p>\n

The one thing Sinn F\u00e9in and all the parties will have is time.<\/p>\n

There is a widespread belief that negotiations to form a new government may go beyond Christmas and into the new year.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, party leaders McDonald and Michelle O’Neill were jubilant when they joined their Sinn F\u00e9in supporters at the RDS in Dublin.<\/p>\n

They were clearly extremely satisfied with the number of seats Sinn F\u00e9in is expected to win.<\/p>\n

As things stand, very few political commentators are expecting the Sinn F\u00e9in jubilation to be sustained to the other side of the negotiations for government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PA Media Counting gets under way at a centre in Cork The leaders of the three main Irish political parties have all been re-elected to serve in the D\u00e1il (Irish parliament). So far, 45 of the D\u00e1il’s 174 seats have been filled, with counting resuming on Sunday morning. Miche\u00e1l Martin of Fianna F\u00e1il, Simon Harris […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}