Ireland's general election exit poll suggests 'unprecedented' 3-way split

Michael Martin, Leo Varadkar, and Mary Louise McDonald.

(Image credit: Niall Carson - Pool/Getty Images)

last updated 9 February 2020

If you thought Iowa was close, wait until you hear about Ireland.

Votes won't be official until Sunday when counting begins in the morning, but exit polls show Ireland's general election Saturday ended in what ostensibly amounts to an "unprecedented" three-way tie between the country's two dominant center-right political parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, which is led by Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, as well as Sinn Féin, a left wing party whose primary goal has traditionally been Irish unification. Fianna Fáil garnered 22.2 percent of the vote, Fine Gael 22.4, and Sinn Féin 22.3.

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All three parties are a long way from being able to form a government, and both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have ruled out a coalition with Sinn Féin. Varadkar has said he's willing to form a grand coalition with Fianna Fáil, but the feeling isn't mutual, so per The Irish Times, someone will have to break a promise to form a government eventually. Read more at The Irish Times and The Wall Street Journal.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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