Sinn Fein Tests Its Power in Irish Elections
Mary Lou McDonald cast her ballot on Nov. 29, 2024. X/ @MaryLouMcDonald
November 29, 2024 Hour: 8:45 am
During the campaign, the left-wing party proposed holding a referendum on Irish reunification before 2030.
On Friday, approximately 3.7 million Irish citizens are participating in general elections, where the leftist Sinn Féin (SF), the Christian Democratic Fine Gael (FG), and the centrist Fianna Fáil (FF) parties are locked in a tight race.
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After years of coalition government involving centrists, Christian Democrats, and Greens, voters will elect 174 deputies from a pool of 686 candidates, 248 of whom are women. Among them is SF leader Mary Lou McDonald, competing against political figures such as FG leader Simon Harris and FF member Micheál Martin.
According to polls, all three parties are polling around 20 percent support, likely forcing them to seek agreements with one another and/or other smaller parties. Both Harris and Martin have expressed willingness to renew the coalition pact from the previous legislature if necessary, while categorically ruling out cooperation with Sinn Féin.
In this scenario, McDonald would need to gather support from the broader left—a strategy that failed in 2020 despite Sinn Féin winning the popular vote. That outcome led to the historic coalition between FF and FG, longstanding rivals since the Irish Civil War (1922–1923), who have alternated in power ever since.
The three leaders could also turn to the independent bloc, which polls at around 20 percent support, while smaller parties such as Labor, the Social Democrats, and the Greens, polling between 4 and 6 percent, present themselves as potential coalition partners.
During the campaign, Christian Democrats and centrists emphasized the strong performance of the economy and called for votes to maintain financial stability in a prosperous nation struggling with a severe housing crisis, deteriorating public services, and rising immigration.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin centered its platform on addressing these issues in an attempt to replicate its electoral success from five years ago, adding a plan to hold a referendum on Irish reunification before 2030.
Polling stations will close today at 10:00 PM GMT, but the counting of votes from 43 constituencies will not begin until Saturday at 9:00 AM. Preliminary results may emerge by mid-afternoon, but final results could take days due to the complexity of Ireland’s single transferable vote electoral system.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
