After making impressive gains in 2020, Sinn Féin was tipped to finally make it into government this year. It’s failure to do so will prompt an internal shake up.

At one level, the vote was an endorsement of continuity, but the stability in Ireland’s political center ground masked volatility on the fringes.

Sinn Fein has suffered a significant fall in its share of the votes in Ireland’s general election, it is now confirmed.

Plus, Irish language and bilingual signs vandalised over 300 times in the past five years

Vote counting got underway Saturday in Ireland’s national election after an exit poll suggested the contest is a close-fought race among the country’s three largest political parties. Ballot boxes were opened at 9 a.

The exit poll put the left wing Sinn Fein on 21.1%, the centre-right Fine Gael of Prime Minister Simon Harris on 21.0% and like-minded coalition partner Fianna Fail on 19.5%. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail pledged ahead of the election to seek to form a coalition without Sinn Fein,

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris’s Fine Gael party is locked in a virtual dead heat with Sinn Fein in the general election, suggesting his decision to go to the country early didn’t yield the advantage he predicted.

Ireland's main opposition party Sinn Fein looked on course to narrowly win the most votes at a general election on Friday, but its two main centre-right rivals will likely have enough seats to govern again without it,