The left-wing nationalist Sinn Fein party won the most votes in the Irish elections, shaking up the political scene there.
They defeated Fina Gael and Fianna Fáil, the two centrist parties that have governed Ireland since independence from Great Britain a century ago.
Fianna Fáil won 22,2 percent of the vote, and Fina Gael 20,9 percent.
Sinn Fein, a party linked to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that fought violently for a united Ireland, won 24,5 percent of the vote according to the first election results.
Leftist Sinn Fein's proposals to solve the housing crisis in Ireland and the health system have attracted young voters in a country still recovering from the global financial crisis of 2008, the AP news agency estimates.
Counting continued today to fill all 160 seats in the lower house of the Irish Parliament, known as the Dail.
On Saturday, more than 3,3 million registered voters had the opportunity to vote in the parliamentary elections in 39 constituencies according to the proportional system. They vote by marking the candidates on the ballot in the order in which they support them: they write the number "1" next to the name of their first choice candidate, "2" next to the name of the next one they would support, and so on.
It is unlikely that any party will get the 80 seats needed for a majority in parliament. Therefore, some form of coalition is inevitable, but forming a stable alliance will not be an easy task.
Current Prime Minister Leo Varadkar's party, Fina Gael, and Michael Martins' party, Fianna Fáil, have said they will not enter government with hard-left Sinn Fein. They cited Sinn Féin's links to paramilitary violence during the conflict in Northern Ireland.
Varadkar said after the election that that position remained unchanged, and Martins said that as a democrat he respected the people's decision.
"These votes for Sinn Féin are for Sinn Féin to be in government, for Sinn Féin to make a difference and be tested. We want to talk to anyone who is interested in delivering a program for government," party president Marie Lou McDonald said.
The IRA has been responsible for decades of murder, bombings and other violence during the "Trouble" in Northern Ireland. More than 3.500 people were killed during decades of conflict between those who wanted to unite Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland and those who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the United Kingdom.
The president of the 33rd convocation of the Daila will be automatically re-elected, and the new convocation will begin on February 20.
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