As the ballot boxes are opened and counting begins around the country, we examine politicians’ reactions to last night’s exit poll.

Ballot boxes have been opened around the country and counting is getting underway following voting in the 2024 general election yesterday. What started as a lacklustre campaign ended in the three largest parties in the country being neck-and-neck in a race “too close to call”.

Fine Gael has been engulfed by infighting over candidates breaking rules set by party HQ over where they could canvass in the final, frantic days of a ‘bumpy’ General Election campaign.

The protracted process of counting votes in Ireland’s General Election will begin as an exit poll put the three main parties virtually tied.

The margin of error in the poll is around 1.4 percent, so there appears to be nothing between the main parties ahead of the counting of votes, which gets under way at 9am on Saturday.

Stakes were high for the main political parties of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin going into this election, with polls showing them neck and neck.

Fine Gael (21 per cent) and Fianna Fáil (19.5 per cent) are virtually neck-and-neck in terms of first-preference votes in the general election, according to an exit poll. The Social Democrats are on 5.

The results of the poll, conducted by Ipsos B&A today for The Irish Times/RTÉ/TG4/TCD, and released just after polls closed, are as follows: Sinn Féin 21.1 per cent, Fianna Fáil 19.5 per cent, Fine Gael 21 per cent,