Head-to-head race?

Irish elect a new parliament on Friday

People in Ireland are being called upon to elect a new parliament on Friday. Almost 3.7 million people can cast their vote. In recent polls, the three largest parties were neck and neck.

These are the coalition partners Fine Gael of Prime Minister Simon Harris and Fianna Fail of Deputy Prime Minister Micheál Martin as well as the strongest opposition force Sinn Féin. It is therefore considered possible that the two center-right parties will continue their cooperation in the EU member state. They are currently governing in a three-party coalition with the Greens.

The current partners have ruled out cooperation with the left-wing nationalist Sinn Féin, which was once regarded as the political arm of the terrorist group IRA. The party is a vocal advocate of Irish reunification and is the strongest force in the neighboring British province of Northern Ireland.

Complicated proportional representation
Just under 3.7 million out of a population of 5.1 million are entitled to vote. Polling stations open at 8 am and close at 11 pm. The votes will not be counted until 10 a.m. on Saturday. Due to the complicated proportional representation system, it is unclear when the results will be known. In the European elections, it took a week for all seats to be allocated.

A pressing problem in Ireland at the moment is the housing shortage (see video above). Despite having jobs, many young people cannot afford accommodation and continue to live with their parents. Recently, accusations from right-wing populists have increased that the influx of migrants is making housing even scarcer.