FF faces battle with Sinn Féin for 'third place' in Election 2011

The first official counts of Election 2011 are due in the next few hours, with early indications that Fianna Fáil is facing a wipe-out, and will be battling for third place overall with Sinn Féin.

Fine Gael is set to win its first election in a generation, while Labour will also have its best electoral performance ever.