Nov. 29 (UPI) — People in Ireland are going to the polls Friday, as the country holds a general election to fill 174 seats in the Dail Eireann or lower house, the principal chamber of the country’s parliament, the Oireachtas.
Polls will close at 10 p.m. GMT Friday, with the center-right Fine Gael, center-right Fianna Fail and far-left Sinn Fein parties vying for votes.
Affordable housing and immigration are two of the biggest issues in the spotlight.
In March, Ireland’s then-Prime Minister or Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, announced his surprise resignation as head of the coalition government.
His Fine Gael Party successor Simon Harris then dissolved parliament earlier this month, announcing on Nov. 8 he would call an election.
The country has increased the number of seats in its lower house to 174, up from 160 during the last national election in 2020 and 158 before that.
With one member of parliament elected to serve as speaker, a party would need to win 87 votes to govern alone.
Officials from all three parties have already said they are not interested in forming a coalition government.
When parliament was dissolved, Fine Gael held 32 seats as part of the governing coalition, while Sinn Fein had 33 and Fianna Fail controlled 35.
Five smaller parties controlled 30 seats while independent members of parliament held 24 with five vacancies.
The parties have been in a tight race to convince the country’s 3.4 million eligible voters, with many predicting Sinn Fein to make the biggest gains since the last election.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald is also vying to become the first female Prime Minister of Ireland.
Last year, Sinn Fein made major gains during local elections in Northern Ireland.
For the first time, the party took control of both the Northern Ireland Assembly and a majority of local council seats.
The party is the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army or IRA.
In Ireland, affordable housing is a priority issue for a large number of the country’s voters.
In early October, Ireland’s then-Finance Minister Jack Chambers announced the federal government would allocate a large portion of the $14.4 billion tax settlement it received from tech giant Apple towards infrastructure, including building thousands of new homes.
The European Union’s highest court in September ordered Apple to pay the multi-billion-dollar amount as part of owed back taxes.
The Irish parliament is scheduled to sit next on Dec. 18.