Voting and reactions to Ireland election

(8 Feb 2020) Irish voters were on Saturday choosing their next prime minister in an election where frustration with economic austerity and a housing crisis have fuelled the rise of Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein, which is committed to the reunification of Ireland, is still shunned by the political establishment because of its links to the IRA. The last pre-election opinion polls showed Sinn Fein in a virtual dead heat with the two parties that have dominated Irish politics since independence -- Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's Fine Gael and the opposition Fianna Fail. A national exit poll is expected to be released shortly after voting ends at 10 p.m. Surging support for Sinn Fein threatens the country's political equilibrium even though the party is unlikely to form the next government because both Fine Gael and Fianna Fail refuse to work with it. While Sinn Fein is a major force in the UK region of Northern Ireland, where it is part of the power-sharing government that helped end decades of sectarian violence, it has long been a minor player south of the border in the Republic. But the party is now attracting voters with left-wing proposals for tackling Ireland's housing crisis and bolstering the nation's creaking health-care system. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/9554408f910d47e890f166ce64bc45af