A marathon vote-counting exercise was underway Saturday in Ireland's national election after an exit poll suggested that the contest is a close-fought race among the country's three largest political parties.

The outgoing government was led by the two parties that have dominated Irish politics for the past century: Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. They have similar policies, but are longtime rivals with origins on opposing sides of Ireland’s 1920s civil war. After the 2020 election ended in a virtual dead heat, they formed a coalition.

Ireland's two large centre-right parties looked set to be returned to power after an election on Friday, but will likely need at least one smaller partner to secure a majority, raising questions over the stability of the next government.