It’s Election Day in Ireland

Voting is underway in Ireland’s general election. I’ll be posting updates through the day. Email subscribers only get one notice, so be sure to check back. Most recent items appear at the top. MH

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Taoiseach Enda Kenny of Fine Gael casts his vote. RTÉ image

  • The Coalition parties have fallen far short of the majority to be returned to government, according to an exit poll conducted for The Irish Times by Ipsos, MRBI. The data show Fine Gael off 10 percentage point from the 2011 election at 26.1 percent; while Labour has dropped more than 11 percentage points to 7.8 percent.
  • Polling has closed and turnout was uneven, The Irish Times says, “with many politicians claiming a significant number of people remained undecided up to the last moment.”
  • Snow and icy weather conditions prevail in parts of Kerry, Cork and Waterford during the final hours of voting.
  • Voting was completed a day early on 12 small islands off the Irish coast.
  • Polling opened at 7 a.m. local time and continues through 10 p.m. More than 3.2 million people are eligible to vote in 40 constituencies being contested by 552 candidates. The Irish Times described early turnout as “brisk.”