Counting to resume as focus shifts to coalition permutations

Counting will resume later in the general election as focus intensifies on the potential make-up of the next coalition government.

All of the three main parties – Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin – were bullish about their prospects as the first results started to come through on Saturday.

However, early indications from count centres across the country suggest the return of an administration involving Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael currently looks more likely than a government including Sinn Féin.

The two parties that have dominated national politics for a century, and who shared power in the last coalition, both ruled out governing with Sinn Féin prior to Friday’s election, so it would seem unlikely that either would countenance that option if they could form a workable coalition without the need for a dramatic U-turn in stance.

Fianna Fáil appeared confident late on Saturday of emerging as the largest party.

If it does, leader and current tánaiste Micheál Martin…

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