Counting has begun in the Irish general election, as exit polls suggest a close contest between the three major parties.

Ireland's main opposition Sinn Fein looked on course to win the most votes at a general election by the narrowest of margins on Friday, but its two main centre-right rivals will likely have enough seats to govern again without it,

Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris’s Fine Gael party is locked in a virtual dead heat with Sinn Fein in the general election, suggesting his decision to go to the country early didn’t yield the advantage he predicted.

Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein appear to be neck-and-neck in an election exit poll released on Friday night, with Sinn Fein attracting 21.1% of the popular vote, followed by Fine Gael on 21% and Fianna Fail on 19.5%. The margin of error in the poll is around 1.4%, so there appears to be nothing between the main parties.

The leader of Sinn Féin has said that this election confirms that her party has "altered the political landscape."

Ireland's main opposition party Sinn Fein looked on course to narrowly win the most votes at a general election on Friday, but its two main centre-right rivals will likely have enough seats to govern again without it,

The outgoing Taoiseach admitted he was relieved when his party received 21% first-preference votes in the exit poll on Friday night

Ireland's main opposition party Sinn Fein looked on course to narrowly win the most votes at a general election on Friday, but its two main centre-right rivals will likely have enough seats to govern again without it,

Sinn Féin leads in the Irish General Election exit poll with 21.1% of first-preference votes, followed closely by Fine Gael at 21% and Fianna Fáil at 19.5%.