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PA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nCounting has begun in the Irish general election, as exit polls suggest a close contest between the three major parties.<\/p>\n Figures from Friday’s exit poll show Sinn F\u00e9in slightly ahead of both Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il in first preference votes<\/a>.<\/p>\n Early tallies predict that some government ministers may struggle to retain their seats.<\/p>\n A record number of 174 Teachta\u00ed D\u00e1la (TDs) are set to be elected, up from 160 in 2020 following a constituency shake-up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are now 43 D\u00e1il constituencies (up from 39 in 2020) which will elect between three and five TDs each.<\/p>\n One seat in the D\u00e1il goes to the Ceann Comhairle (Speaker), so 88 TDs is the number required for an overall majority.<\/p>\n More than 680 candidates competed for the remaining 173 seats.<\/p>\n The counting of votes at more than 40 centres across the Republic began at 09:00 local time, with the first results expected later in the afternoon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Sinn F\u00e9in has polled well so far but less clear is how it will use that support to enter government.<\/p>\n Judging by the early tallies Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael are best placed to return to the government benches and may between them end up with between 75 and 80 just short of the 88 needed to secure a majority.<\/p>\n Both parties have ruled out sharing power with Sinn F\u00e9in.<\/p>\n That leaves Mary Lou McDonald contemplating other options including the possibility of a minority government with other left leaning parties and some independent TDs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n BBC News NI’s Aoife Moore in Dublin<\/b><\/p>\n Early tallies are predicting an upset for some government ministers.<\/p>\n Although not all boxes are open, trends are beginning to emerge.<\/p>\n In Wicklow, which has four seats, Health Minister Stephen Donnelly is in fifth place.<\/p>\n Health had been a hot topic in the election campaign as waiting lists continue to rise.<\/p>\n Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Simon Harris is in the same constituency and is leading the way in early tallies.<\/p>\n In Dublin Mid-West, Minister for Children, the Green Party’s Roderic O’Gorman, is in trouble at this early stage, currently in sixth place.<\/p>\n O’Gorman had been put in the unenviable position of having responsibility for asylum seeker integration and accommodation – something the current government struggled to get a handle on amid a misinformation campaign from the far right and lack of available beds for refugees.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Sinn F\u00e9in leader Mary Lou McDonald is likely to take the first seat in the Dublin Central constituency.<\/p>\n Social Democrat Gary Gannon and Fine Gael minister Paschal Donohoe also look safe in their seats.<\/p>\n The final seat looks likely to be a close race between the Labour Party senator Marie Sherlock and Independent candidate Gerard Hutch.<\/p>\n Hutch, also known at The Monk, was cleared of murdering a man during a boxing weigh-in at a Dublin hotel in 2016.<\/a><\/p>\n Earlier this month, he was released on bail from custody in Spain.<\/p>\n Hutch was one of nine people arrested in Spain as part of a joint international investigation between the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the Guardia Civil into money laundering by the Hutch Organised Crime Group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
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Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nEmerging trends<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What did Friday’s exit poll say?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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