London, Nov 29 Voters are taking to the polls in the Irish general election on Friday, with the incumbent coalition neck-and-neck with opposition party Sinn Fein.
Polls opened at 0700 GMT and will close at 2200 GMT as Ireland's 3.8 million voters choose new members of the 174-seat lower chamber of parliament, the Dail, in Dublin.
The three largest parties, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail, and Sinn Fein, were locked in a tight race, each securing around 20 per cent of the vote, according to the latest poll, Xinhua news agency reported.
The counting of votes will start on Saturday morning and is expected to take several days.
Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party formed a coalition government after the last general election in 2020.
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