Politics in Ireland has traditionally been dominated by two parties - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Both parties emerged following a split in nationalist opinion over the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty. Sinn Féin has become the main opposition party after making significant gains in 2020 and topping the popular vote,

The exit poll put the left wing Sinn Fein on 21.1%, the centre-right Fine Gael of Prime Minister Simon Harris on 21.0% and like-minded coalition partner Fianna Fail on 19.5%. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail pledged ahead of the election to seek to form a coalition without Sinn Fein,

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris’s Fine Gael party is locked in a virtual dead heat with Sinn Fein in the general election, suggesting his decision to go to the country early didn’t yield the advantage he predicted.