General Election sees key shift away from the two larger traditional parties

Amid all the talk of Fianna Fáil’s miracle resurgence —and the Fine Gael collapse — a key feature of this election is the move away from the two larger traditional parties.

While it’s not all done and dusted yet, it looks like by the time the last seat is filled around one third of the electorate will have voted independent or for the smaller parties.

For the first time in almost a century, the combined Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael vote is under 50%. Whether this is a sea change that is likely to be replicated in future elections, only time will tell. However, it does appear that the Irish voter is starting to vote on broadly on left/right lines rather than with the Civil War parties.