Sinn Fein supporters celebrated the party's success in Ireland's weekend election (AFP Photo/Ben STANSALL) |
Dublin (AFP) - Sinn Fein on Monday stood on the threshold of a potential role in Ireland's government after winning the popular vote in a weekend election, a result shattering the political landscape.
The result
from Saturday's ballot broke the stranglehold of two-party politics in Ireland,
opening up a possible role for a nationalist party once shunned because of its
links to IRA paramilitaries.
Former
leader Gerry Adams and other party representatives were even banned from the
airwaves in the UK as violence raged over British rule in Northern Ireland over
three decades to 1998.
But with
two decades of peace and a new leader under Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein's
left-wing policies on tackling crises in housing and health found favour with
voters.
McDonald
said the two main parties -- Fine Gael and Fianna Fail -- were "in a state
of denial" and had not listened to the voice of the people.
On a
walkabout in Dublin, she said she had begun talks with smaller left-wing
parties to try to "test" whether it was possible to form a government
without the two main centre-right parties.
Partial
results fronm the Irish general election (AFP Photo)
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"I may
well be the next taioseach (prime minister," she said before chatting to
supporters and market traders.
"Sinn
Fein won the election, we won the popular vote... I'm very clear that people
who came out and voted for Sinn Fein have voted for Sinn Fein to be in
government," she added.
Prime
Minister and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar acknowledged the shift to "a
three-party system" and said talks between the parties could be protracted
and difficult.
After
ballots in all 39 constituencies were tallied on Sunday, Sinn Fein received
24.5 percent of first preferences in Ireland's single transferable vote system.
That
outstripped the opposition Fianna Fail party on 22.2 percent and Fine Gael on
20.9 percent.
"The
Irish political system has to react to it and probably accept that Sinn Fein
will be part of the next government," Eoin O'Malley, associate professor
at Dublin City University, told AFP.
Irish
republican Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald says the two
mainstream
parties are in a 'state of denial' (AFP Photo/Ben STANSALL)
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Young
appeal
At 1600 GMT
on Monday, state broadcaster RTE reported 123 of the 159 seats in the Dail --
Ireland's lower house of parliament -- were filled.
Sinn Fein,
whose flagship policy is uniting the republic with Northern Ireland, had 37,
with Fianna Fail on 26 and Fine Gael on 24. Turnout was 62.9 percent.
But because
it ran just 42 candidates, even a strong performance in the popular vote may
not result in it becoming the biggest party in the next parliament.
Fine Gael
and Fianna Fail have both ruled out any deal with Sinn Fein because of its past
associations under Adams, who has long denied allegations he had a leadership
role in the IRA.
"The
Troubles" saw the IRA wage a campaign against unionist counterparts and
British security forces over UK-rule in Northern Ireland that saw more than
3,000 killed on all sides.
Ballots in
all 39 of Ireland's constituencies were counted on Sunday (AFP Photo/
PAUL
FAITH)
|
McDonald's
policies on tackling wealth inequality and housing shortages appear to have
appealed to younger voters in the EU member state's 3.3 million-strong
electorate.
Some 32
percent of voters aged 18-24 and 25-34 backed the party, according to an exit
poll on Saturday.
Dublin
coffee shop manager Darren Hart said it was time for another party to try after
decades of two-party dominance.
"Whether
they have a troubled past as a party or not, you know they deserve a shot same
as everybody else, so why not?" he said.
Fiach
Kelly, deputy political editor of The Irish Times, called McDonald "the
star of the campaign" and said her attacks on Fianna Fail's support for
Fine Gael's minority government were "brutally effective".
"It
robbed (Fianna Fail leader) Micheal Martin of his claim to be an agent of
change and solidified Sinn Fein as the party offering radical change," he
wrote.
Prime
Minister Leo Varadkar has been seen as the face of a new, more progressive
Ireland (AFP Photo/Bryan MEADE)
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Coalition
predicted
In a sign
of the sea-change in Irish politics, Varadkar himself was beaten to the first
seat in his constituency by a Sinn Fein candidate.
He took the
second of four seats but it was a sharp symbolic blow on a long night for the
premier, who was facing the electorate for the first time as prime minister.
Varadkar --
young, openly gay and mixed-race -- has been seen as the face of a new, more
progressive Ireland after referendums overturning strict abortion laws and
same-sex marriage.
The new
Dail convenes on February 20. O'Malley predicted a Fianna Fail-Sinn Fein
coalition as the most likely future government to be formed some time in early
March.
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