DUBLIN, Nov 29, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Ireland goes to the polls on Friday with the
incumbent coalition parties neck-and-neck with opposition party Sinn Fein
after a campaign marked by rancour over housing and cost-of-living crises.

Polls open across the country at 0700 GMT and close at 2200 GMT as voters
choose new members of the 174-seat lower chamber of parliament, the Dail, in
Dublin.

Counting is not due to start until Saturday morning, with partial results
expected throughout the day.

A final result, however, may not be clear for days as Ireland's proportional
representation system sees votes of eliminated candidates redistributed
during multiple rounds of counting.

Final opinion polling put the three main parties -- centre-right Fine Gael
and Fianna Fail, and the leftist-nationalist Sinn Fein -- each on around 20
percent.

Fine Gael, whose leader Simon Harris called a snap election earlier this
month, held a solid lead entering the campaign.

Harris replaced his predecessor Leo Varadkar in April aged just 37 to become
Ireland's youngest ever taoiseach (prime minister).

Now 38, he was credited with re-energising Fine Gael in part due to his
social media savvy that earned him the moniker "TikTok Taoiseach".

But the party has lost its advantage after a viral clip of Harris in which he
appeared rude and dismissive to a care worker on the campaign trail went
viral.

- Status quo? -

At the last general election in 2020, Sinn Fein -- the former political wing
of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army -- won the popular vote but could
not find willing coalition partners.

That led to weeks of horsetrading, ending up with Fine Gael, which has been
in power since 2011, agreeing a deal with Fianna Fail, led by the experienced
Micheal Martin, 64.

The role of prime minister rotated between the two party leaders. The smaller
Green Party made up the governing coalition.

Harris has had to defend the government's patchy record on tackling a
worsening housing crisis and fend off accusations of profligate public
spending.

A giveaway budget last month was also aimed at appeasing voters fretting
about sky-high housing and childcare costs.

Both centre-right parties stress their pro-business credentials and say
returning them to power would ensure stability, particularly with turmoil
abroad and the risk of external shocks.

Ireland's economy depends on foreign direct investment and lavish corporate
tax returns from mainly US tech and pharma giants.

But threats from incoming US president Donald Trump to slap tariffs on
imports and repatriate corporate tax of US firms from countries such as
Ireland have caused concern for economic stability.

"The current government is not ideal but they have experience, so are in a
better position to address that," Gerard, a 55-year-old university lecturer
who did not want to give his last name, told AFP.

- Time for change? -

Gail McElroy, a political scientist at Trinity College Dublin, said "all is
still to play for" but a return of the centre-right parties was "a very
realistic possibility".

Mary Lou McDonald's Sinn Fein has seen a dip in support because of its
progressive stance on social issues and migration policy, as immigration
became a key election issue.

But it has rallied on the back of a campaign heavily focused on housing
policy and claims it is the only alternative to the Fine Gael and Fianna
Fail, who have swapped power since Irish independence from Britain in 1921.

Retail worker Rachel McNamara, 22, said she plans to vote Sinn Fein because
the two other mainstream parties have "had time to fix" the housing crisis.

"They only made broken promises," she added.

McNamara still lives with her parents and cannot afford her own place with
her boyfriend Adam McGrath, 23. "We've talked about emigration, probably
Canada," he said.

Independents from across the political spectrum together poll around 20
percent.

They could play a role in the formation of the next government if Fine Gael
and Fianna Fail fall short of an 88-seat majority.