Irish election 2024: Date announcement expected later today

Three parties – Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and The Green Party – make up the coalition government in the Republic of Ireland.

Voters last went to the polls in February 2020 where Fianna Fáil, led by Micheál Martin, won the most seats (38).

But the party fell short of a majority and entered into negotiations with Fine Gael, who led the then-outgoing government, and the Green Party.

An agreement on a coalition deal was reached four months later, having been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, in June 2020.

The Green Party’s Roderic O’Gorman, Simon Harris and Micheál Martin currently make up the leaders of Ireland’s coalition government.

As part of the agreement, the role of taoiseach was to be swapped between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael mid-way through the five-year term.

Martin held the top role until December 2022, before then-Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar took on the reigns.

Varadkar announced he was resigning from the role earlier this year. Harris then took over as taoiseach in April after winning the party’s leadership contest.

Sinn Féin, who recorded a historic result in the 2020 election after winning 37 seats, currently lead the opposition.

Its leader Mary Lou McDonald had described the outcome as “something of a revolution in the ballot box”.

A number of other parties, such as Labour, Social Democrats, People Before Profit, Aontú and independents, also make up the opposition.