Voters savage mainstream parties in Irish election

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny (centre) departs the general election count at the count centre in Castlebar, Ireland, February 27, 2016.

The move comes after exit polls indicated support for his Fine Gael party and its junior coalition partner had slumped as voters reject austerity.

He added: “As Taoiseach [prime minister] I have a duty and a responsibility as head of government in continuing with this role to see how best we can put together a government for the future because clearly the country needs a government and must have one”.

Mr Kenny, who had a 30-seat majority after the 2011 election, admitted the election result was disappointing. Labour dropped 12.8 percentage points to just 6.6 percent.

“One of the reasons we did so well in 2011 was because people accepted we needed a strong government to get us out of an extraordinary mess”.

The Taoiseach has said it is still very early days in terms of deciding the make-up of the next Government.

That compares with the 41 to 42 percent finance minister Michael Noonan believes they need to form a government, likely with the help of independent candidates or smaller parties.

Ireland’s former Fianna Fail prime minister, Bertie Ahern, forecast that neither Kenny nor Martin would win majority backing March 10.

Most analysts forecast that Fine Gael would win around 50 seats, versus the 76 it won five years ago, while Fianna Fail should win more than 40, at least doubling its 2011 total of 20.

The poll found that Sinn Fein received 16 percent of first-preference votes, sufficient to double its number of lawmakers – but not enough to give either Fine Gael or Fianna Fail a majority, even if either cut a deal with the Irish Republican Army-linked party.

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael trace their roots to opposite sides in the 1922-23 civil war that followed Ireland’s independence from Britain.

Sinn Fein will become the the third largest party for the first time with an estimated 15 percent of the vote, a five percent increase from the last election.

With several coalition combinations on the table, Mr Kenny refused to be drawn on the prospect of a pact with traditional adversaries Fianna Fail.

With official Irish election results yet to trickle in, leaders of the governing Fine Gael and Labour parties say Ireland’s voters have demonstrated that they want a change in government, with 60 percent or more of voters picking an array of other parties, mostly on the left of the political spectrum. “I think we will see uncertainty here”, said Michael Marsh, a professor of politics at Trinity College Dublin.

ENDA KENNY moved to dismiss doubts about his leadership of Fine Gael last night as the country faced weeks of political stalemate over the formation of a government.

The first of the 157 parliamentary seats was declared on Saturday afternoon but the final list of winners may not be announced until the count finishes early next week.