Sinn Féin surges to Irish election success ---------------------------------------------- Left-wing nationalist party Sinn Féin – formerly the political wing of the Irish Republican Army – has demanded a seat at the government table after securing the most votes in Ireland’s national elections ---------------------------------------------- 2020 ELECTION VOTE SHARE Result with all first preference votes counted (2016 result) ---------------------------------------------- Sinn Féin 24.5% (13.8) Fianna Fáil 22.2% (24.3) Fine Gael 20.9% (25.5) Greens 7.1% (2.7) Labour 4.4% (6.6) Others 20.9% (27.1) ---------------------------------------------- Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald – her party has almost doubled its share from 2016 election ---------------------------------------------- PROJECTED SEATS IN PARLIAMENT 45 Fianna Fáil (likely to be largest party as Sinn Féin did not run enough candidates to take most seats) 37 Sinn Féin 36 Fine Gael (current governing and largest party) Greens: 10 Labour: 6 Independent and others 26 Total seats 160 ---------------------------------------------- Sources: BBC, Financial Times, Twitter Picture: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS