DUBLIN - Ireland’s three biggest political parties are likely to face a difficult process of forming a new government, with an exit poll suggesting they finished in a virtual dead heat in parliamentary elections Saturday. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail — the two parties that have dominated Irish politics since independence — have shunned Sinn Fein because of its links to the IRA. Sinn Fein offered a more radical plan to raise taxes on the wealthy, freeze rents, build tens of thousands of new homes and lower the state pension age. Recent opinion polls had indicated Sinn Fein was gaining ground, prompting the larger parties to remind voters of the party’s ties to past violence. But Brexit looks likely to nudge Northern Ireland’s economy closer to that of its southern neighbour, and could increase pressure for a vote on unification.

Source: thestar February 08, 2020 11:10 UTC