Sinn Féin party wins shocking result in historic Irish general election
Quang Dung – VOV correspondent in France -
(VOVWORLD) - Initial results of the 2020 Irish general election showed a spectacular victory for the left-wing nationalist Sinn Féin party, formerly the political wing of the Irish Republican Army (IRA).
With 96% of first-preference votes tallied on Sunday, Sinn Féin led with more than 24% of the total, overtaking Prime Minister Leo Varadkar’s Fianna Fail party and the Fine Gael party, both of which had 22%.
The polls closed on Saturday, but the results were not announced until late Sunday due to a complicated counting process. The results have shaken Ireland’s political landscape, which has been a center-right duopoly of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael for decades, ever since Ireland gained independence.
Sinn Féin’s success is being attributed to its focus on solving social issues, in particular the housing problem, while the administration was focusing on Brexit-related matters.
Quang Dung – VOV correspondent in France