Ljubljana, In Ireland, direct elections by universal suffrage are used for the President, the ceremonial head of state; for Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas or parliament; for the European Parliament; and for local government. Sofia, Warsaw, Smaller parties - including the Greens, Labour, the Social Democrats, Solidarity-People Before Profit, and Aontú - will be hoping to have their say, as will a number of non-party politicians. Fianna Fáil - led by the former Foreign Minister Micheál Martin - received 22.2% of the first preferences. Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are officially in favor of a United Ireland, but neither appears keen on holding a poll—a referendum to decide whether Northern Ireland should join the Republic of Ireland—in the near future. After the first results on Sunday, McDonald told supporters the election had been a “revolution” in Irish politics. Given so many Sinn Féin candidates were elected on the first count - and did not have running mates - their surpluses will be very much in play to decide where the other seats in their constituencies go. Irish general election: full results This article is more than 6 months old. Source: European Parliament in collaboration with Kantar. Polls opened at 07:00 UTC and closed at 22:00 UTC. She took over the party in 2018 and represents a “generational change” from Sinn Féin’s controversial history, Theresa Reidy, a politics professor at University College Cork told TIME before the vote. Madrid, The Green Party also did well with young voters, capturing 14.4% of votes by 18-24 year-olds, according to the exit poll. When challenged on its associations with the IRA, Sinn Féin emphasised its role in the Northern Ireland peace process. Full article Daily news briefing direct to your inbox. A popular proposal to reduce the state pension age from 66 to 65 – instead of a planned rise to 67 next year – caught both the establishment parties off guard, allowing Sinn Féin to set much of the agenda of the campaign period. The proportional representation system of voting means finalising the seat tally is complex. “The people associated with the conflict and the IRA are no longer there.”. She took over the party in 2018 and represents a “generational change” from Sinn Féin’s controversial history, Theresa Reidy, a politics professor at University College Cork told TIME before the vote. First results as presented by the Member State’s official election authority on the basis of a percentage of votes counted. Although Sinn Fein won the most votes, its victory is complicated by the party’s decision to field around half as many candidates as Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for the 160-seat parliament, and by its support being concentrated in certain areas. Before the vote, both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael pledged not to enter into a coalition with Sinn Féin, citing concerns over both its leftwing policy platform and its history as the political arm of the provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), a paramilitary group that waged a violent campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland in the late 20th century. But more than that - it focused its campaign on high rent levels, record homelessness figures, and the cost of living - particularly the price of insurance. Even in 2016, when Sinn Féin did not hold such sway in parliament, it took two months after the election for parties to reach a deal that allowed Fine Gael to form a government. The rest of parliament is made up by smaller, mostly leftwing parties, including the Greens on 12 seats.