Election results meant Ireland partially bucked a global trend; Health Minister Stephen Donnelly lost his seat

The election results meant Ireland partially bucked a global trend of disaffected voters rejecting candidates after years of pandemic measures, international instability and cost-of-living pressures. The cost of living and Ireland's deepening housing crisis were dominant issues in the three-week election campaign, and immigration has become a challenging issue in the country of 5.4 million people.

Michael Martin, Simon Harris, Mary Lou McDonald

The election results meant Ireland, Like the last government, the next government will be led by the two parties that have dominated Irish politics for the past century. Ireland's two dominant centre-right parties look likely to form the country's next government, according to the latest national election results. But Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, part of the current governing coalition, have seen their vote share shrink and face complex coalition talks to bring together a new government.

 "I think there's a very clear path back to government, it's not entirely determined because it will depend on the last seats I've talked about," Fianna Fáil leader Michael Martin said. Ireland's public broadcaster RTÉ News reports that 153 seats in the Dáil, the 174-seat lower house of parliament, were filled. 

• Fianna Fáil won 43 seats, 
• Fine Gael won 36 seats, and 
• Sinn Féin won 36 seats,

 but both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael had previously said they would not work with the party, citing its leftist policies and historical ties to the Irish Republican Army (IRA). "We understand that this vote is for change and I and I will do everything we can to pursue that goal once we have finished voting for a change in government and the seats are filled," Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou Macdonald said.

Ireland uses a complex proportional representation system in which each of the country's 43 constituencies elects a number of legislators and voters rank candidates in order of preference. As a result, it may take days or weeks to know the full results.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have similar policies, but they are long-standing rivals that originated on opposite sides of the Irish Civil War in the 1920s. The Green Party faced a disastrous defense, losing all but one of their 12 seats. This time, winning parties may turn to left-leaning Labor, Social Democrats or independent lawmakers for support.

Stephen Donnelly

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly lost his seat in Wicklow. Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was eliminated in this morning's final count after he lost his seat in Wicklow. The Fianna Fáil candidate yesterday admitted the race would be "tough". Edward Timmons of Fine Gael was elected ahead of him by more than 1,500 votes. Donnelly said the combination of one seat down in his constituency and the vote share of T-Sheck Simon Harris made his position vulnerable in this general election. Last year the Wicklow constituency was changed in the redelineation of boundaries.

It used to cover the whole of County Wicklow, but the Electoral Commission decided to make the area around Arklow town a new Wicklow-Wexford constituency. Wicklow lost a seat in the process, going from five to four.

Donnelly was first elected as an independent in Wicklow in 2011, before co-founding the Social Democrats in 2015 and becoming one of its leaders. He left the party for Fianna Fáil in 2017, causing controversy. He became the Minister of Health in 2020 after being re-elected.