Irish general election: Exit poll suggests tight three-way race
The results from this poll set the scene for the official counting of votes which starts at 09:00 local time on Saturday and is expected to continue across the weekend.
It is possible that some of the 43 constituencies may not have a final result until the beginning of next week.
Successful candidates are known as Teachtaí Dála (TDs) and there are 174 seats to fill, but the Ceann Comhairle (speaker) is returned automatically.
More than 680 candidates competed for the remain 173 seats.
The number of seats required for an overall majority is 88 but no single party is fielding enough candidates to win a majority on its own.
The first meeting of the new Dáil (lower house of parliament) is on 18 December but it is unlikely coalition negotiations will have finished by then.
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