General election: Irish government parties buck worldwide election trend

Vocabulary: 281, Words: 547

PA Media Michéal Martin, who has thinning light brown hair, and is wearing a navy suit talks to reporters who are holding put microphones towards him

1As the complex counting continues, unpredictability has given way to clarity in Ireland’s election.

2It looks like the country has bucked the trend across the world, in a year of numerous elections, by putting the outgoing centrist government parties in prime position to go back into power.

3There is a now frontrunner to be prime minister, known as the taoiseach – Michéal Martin of Fianna Fáil.

4His party has won the biggest number of first preference votes, and is on course to win the most seats for the second election in a row.

PA Media Simon Harris who has greying hair parted to the side and is wearing a dark side is hugged by his wife who has long brown hair and is wearing a striped top at an election count centre

5After the exit poll, Sinn Féin had hoped it would repeat its achievement of 2020 and win the popular vote and also become the largest party in the Irish parliament for the first time.

6But party figures were less keen to play up their chances as the declarations rolled in late on Saturday evening.

7Sinn Féin eventually came third in the race for first preferences with a 5.5% drop in its share compared with four years ago.

8Analysts are projecting that the centre-right parties of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will win more than 80 seats between them – putting them close to the “finish line” of 88, which is an overall majority in the lower house of parliament, Dáil Éireann.

9Sources in both parties suggest they will seek a coalition deal with one or two centre-left parties – potentially Labour and the Social Democrats, which have both grown their support.

10The Green Party, which was the third member of the last government, has had a tough election, with leader Roderic O’Gorman looking like he could be the only survivor when the final seat tally arrives.

11Sinn Féin sources have suggested that the potential wipeout of another junior coalition partner could dissuade left-wing parties from going into government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael again.

12But it looks all but certain that the Sinn Féin president, Mary Lou McDonald, will be leader of the opposition for another parliamentary term.

Reuters Mary Lou McDonald holding her hand up in the air as she celebrates. She has shoulder length brown hair and is wearing a black blazer with an orange and black scarf.

13The outgoing taoiseach, Simon Harris of Fine Gael, has only been in the job for seven months.

14He could return to the position in a couple of years, if his party and Fianna Fáil repeat their 2020 deal to have a “rotating taoiseach”.

15Whether and how that issue will come into play may depend on how many more seats are secured by Michéal Martin’s party.

16Fine Gael will be in government for an unprecedented fourth successive term.

17The electorate has apparently opted for continuity and stability overall.

Reuters Gerry Hutch has salt and pepper hair and blue eyes and is smiling. He is wearing a dark grey suit jacket and open-necked shirt and is surrounded by photographers

18But there was a chaotic moment when a particularly controversial candidate arrived at the main count centre in Dublin– to a clatter of camera clicks and an array of shouted questions from journalists.

19The media “scrum” around Gerard Hutch was possibly the most intense of the weekend.

20Hutch was cleared of murdering a man during a boxing weigh-in at a Dublin hotel in 2016, but a judge described him as the patriarchal figurehead of a criminal organisation and said he engaged in serious criminal conduct.

21Last month, he was released on bail from custody in Spain, where he had been arrested as part of an investigation into money laundering by the Hutch Organised Crime Group.

22He was well in contention for a seat in Dublin Central – but was eventually overtaken by Labour’s Marie Sherlock.

from BBC