Sinn Féin has topped the first preference poll in the Republic of Ireland general election, with 24.5 per cent of the vote.
Fianna Fáil won 22.2 per cent of the vote with Fine Gael securing 20.9 per cent.
With counting ongoing, what is clear is that no one party can win an overall majority.
However, prior to the election, Fine Gael ruled out entering into a coalition with Sinn Féin.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has not ruled out working with Sinn Féin, but warned of “significant incompatibilities”, particularly surrounding the party’s IRA past and tax policies.
Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar, who was Irish premier going into the election, conceded that forming a government would now be “challenging”.
Varadkar said that his party will not enter into coalition with Sinn Féin "in large part because of their policies in relation to crime, tax and the way the economy and society should be run and also our deep concerns about their democratic structures.”
He said: "We don't believe a coalition between Sinn Féin and Fine Gael is a viable option.”
After Irish polls closed at 22:00 local time on Saturday, counting began on Sunday and continued into Monday morning.
Despite Sinn Féin topping the preference poll, the party had only put forward 42 candidates across the 39 multi-seat constituencies in Ireland, which is roughly half of the number put forward by the two main rival parties.
Sinn Féin's inferior number of candidates will restrict the number of seats the party will eventually be able to occupy in the Irish parliament, which consists of 160 in total.
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald said that the party will consider its options and gauge whether it can form a government without the support of Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil.
