• 2 days ago
Counting has continued into the second day in the Irish elections.

The three main parties are currently all within a shout of topping the poll.

CGTN’s Ken Browne has all the latest.

#ireland #elections #irishelections #politics

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:00Current Taoiseach Simon Harris hoisted high in his Wicklow constituency, re-election confirmed.
00:10Similar scenes played out across the country as counts came in, and the only real surprise is that there's no surprise at all.
00:18With incumbent governments being voted out and the far right rising across Europe, Ireland bucked those trends, resisting polarisation and the weaponisation of immigration.
00:29Current Taoiseach or Prime Minister Simon Harris is confident that his party, Fianna Gael, will remain in government.
00:36The system that we have, which I know for viewers looking in from abroad may be a little different to most systems,
00:41does take a little bit of time with our transfer system and our multi-seat constituency.
00:45But certainly what I would say as the current Taoiseach, the current Prime Minister of this country,
00:49is I believe my party is well positioned to gain seats and to play an important role in the next government.
00:55Counting continues at centres like this one in Dublin's RDS.
00:59And while we might not have final results for a couple of days yet,
01:03what we do know is that the two main parties of Ireland's current governing coalition are poised for a return to power.
01:10That's Fianna Fáil and Fianna Gael, who are likely to keep Ireland on a stable, centrist and fiscally conservative path.
01:19A housing emergency and the cost of living crisis were the biggest issues for Irish people in these elections
01:25and Fianna Fáil leader Michail Martin addressed those concerns after celebrating his own re-election.
01:34I think there will be a sufficiency of seats, it seems to me, that aligns with the core principles that I articulate at the outset of this campaign
01:43around the pro-enterprise economy, around a positively pro-European Union position.
01:49Many people are feeling pressure because of cost of living.
01:51The housing issue is still unfinished business, to be frank, and we have a lot more houses to build.
01:59An old story in Irish politics, history repeated as the smaller coalition partner was punished by the electorate.
02:06The Green Party faces a wipe-out blamed for the unpopular climate policies over the past few years
02:12and Labour and the Social Democrats look set to step in.
02:16With a booming economy and close to full employment, the centre held in Ireland,
02:20the electorate choosing stability over volatility and resisting the rise of the far-right.
02:26Ken Brown, CGTN, Dublin.

Recommended