General Election 2024 'all to play for' as parties wrap up campaigns ahead of vote

Friday's election is “all to play for” as 3.7 million people prepare to head to the polls and cast their votes in General Election 2024.

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin all appealed on Thursday for people to cast their votes while considering how a government can be formed in the aftermath of the election.

Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman told the Irish Mirror that he wants his party back in power and would not rule out going into a coalition with four or five other parties.

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Polls open nationwide at 7am on Friday and will remain open until 10pm. Counting will begin at 9am on Saturday and is expected to continue into Sunday.

Speaking in St Joseph’s College in Lucan on Thursday, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris predicted that the election will be tight and that all is still to play for.

“What we're seeing now is a very close election,” the Taoiseach told reporters.

“I read all the pundits and all the various commentary, and it's all very interesting, but ultimately, nobody quite knows exactly what the Irish people are going to decide to do.

“What I'm respectfully asking them to do is vote for Fine Gael, to lend us their support.”

He continued: “This is all to play for.

“There is a little bit of arrogance creeping into some of the other parties. I read the briefings… Who's going to be the large parties? Best of luck to them.

“As President Obama said to Sarah Palin when he rang her up, when she was put on John McCain’s ticket as vice president [in the 2008 US Presidential election], ‘I wish you luck, but not too much’.”

In recent days, Mr Harris has said he will transfer his votes to Fianna Fáil and Labour. Labour leader Ivana Bacik said Mr Harris “smacked of desperation.”

The Taoiseach said he was simply suggesting that Fine Gael voters may want to support “parties we’ve worked with before”.

Speaking outside Government Buildings, Mary Lou McDonald said she wanted people to “lend Sinn Fein their votes”.

She said: “We're saying to people who know that this change of government is urgent, that we need it now.

“We're asking you to come out and vote. We're asking you to come out and vote for Sinn Féin.

“We have word from younger people, in particular, that they're travelling home to cast their vote.

“We're also asking those who are considering maybe voting for someone else, if you want change, if you want a change of government, vote for Sinn Féin. Lend us your vote for this election.”

Ms McDonald also suggested that people should transfer their votes to “other parties that are interested in change”. She said this would differ between constituencies, but she would “identify parties like the Social Democrats that we would share ideas on housing and other policies, People Before Profit, candidates of the left, some independent candidates”.

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Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman, meanwhile, asked voters to “stick with” the party.

He said: “If you want to see us continue to deliver, we need that number one this time around.

“The number two or number three, it’s not really going to cut it.”

He also said that the Green Party had “broken that tradition in Ireland that the smaller party is always overwhelmed by the agendas of the larger coalition partners”.

Asked by the Irish Mirror if the Green would be willing to be the fourth or fifth party in a coalition, Mr O’Gorman said it will “depend on numbers and depend on policy”.

He added: “For us, it's about what are the policies in the programme for government, not is it three parties, or is it four? That's a far less important question for us.”

Elsewhere, Fianna Fáil Micheál Martin has said housing and disability issues were constantly raised during the election campaign and had been the “standout” issues.

The Fianna Fail leader said despite criticism that there was a dearth of significant moments or excitement during the General Election, there had been “a lot of engagement” from the public.

A Business Post/Red C Poll published on Wednesday evening showed Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin neck and neck.

Fianna Fáil stood on 21%, while Sinn Féin jumped two points to 20% and Fine Gael fell two points to 20%.

Nearly 3.7m people will be eligible to cast a vote on Friday.

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