Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald is speaking to the media at the RDS count centre in Dublin.

She said the two party system is now over.

Margaret O'Callaghan, senior lecturer in politics at Queen's University Belfast, is asked where has it not gone particularly right for Fine Gael.

She says: “I suppose you’ve to go back to have they done badly or have they done well? By their own standards they have more or less maintained the position they formerly had, so in their own eyes they have not done badly.”

Ms O’Callaghan says Fine Gael leader Simon Harris “performed very poorly in the days before the election”. She said she is surprised it “didn’t have more of a negative effect” on the party.

She says Fine Gael have come out of the election as they came into it.

The leader of Sinn Féin Mary Lou McDonald has said it looks like a "close race" between the three largest parties and insisted her party had received a "game changing and historic mandate".

Speaking to Chief Presenter Caitriona Perry on BBC News, Mary Lou McDonald said she will do "everything I can" to explore "all the possibilities" for forming a government and that there "isn't a straightforward path" for any party.

Asked about plans for a referendum on Irish unity, she said "we're at a stage where we need to talk about preparation for a referendum on constitutional change" and that there is an "immediacy and urgency for that conversation to happen". She also said "no Irish or British government can bury their head in the sand" over the issue.

She also said she's had many conversations with Sir Keir Starmer and that the Prime Minister is "well aware of my thinking"

Former Fianna Fáil Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Mary Coughlan believes that the party has done "fairly well."

Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin being so close has "changed the dynamics of politics in Ireland. I think it would be wrong to make any assumptions about who will be in government."

"I doubt it very much" that Fianna Fáil would go into a coalition with Sinn Féin Coughlan says.

"I don't see Michael Martin in any discussions with Sinn Féin." she says.

"I would be very hopeful that we would do particularly well."

Dan Mulhall, a former Irish ambassador, says that there are now three parties of roughly the same size and that's a dilemma for all the parties.

"There has been a total change in Irish politics," he said.

"This is now a new normality of three parties contesting to be the biggest party in the country."

He adds that forming a government will be difficult as there may only be one or two seats between the parties.

He finds it hard to see how left-wing parties would form a government as they don't hold quite enough percentage vote.

Speaking from the RDS count centre in Dublin, BBC News NI's political editor Enda McClafferty says the Sinn Féin "swagger is back again".

"It's quite a turnaround for the party when it looks like now they’re on course maybe to return with 40 plus seats, and when you consider where the party was back in June when it barely got 12% in the European and local council elections," McClafferty says.

"It does appear the party has struck the right cord, particularly with younger voters out there and the vote that has managed to amass."

He says: "The easy part might be getting the vote, what do you with it because it does look like both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are well placed to return to the government benches once more."

Michelle Gildernew has said that she is very happy and Sinn Fein have had a positive campaign.

"If we had of heard 6 months ago that this was what we were going to get we'd be delighted with us."

"We had a great young dynamic team."

She makes reference to the second preference votes between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and says it reminds her of something north of the boarder - Vote Colum, Get Mike, Vote Mike, Get Colum.

"It would be difficult for Sinn Féin to form a government, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are so alike now, they are practically the same party.

"I can see them going back into government together."

BBC News NI is broadcasting a Special Election Programme this evening.

Luke Sproule will have all the figures from the BBC News NI election centre, while presenters Chris Buckler and Elaine McGee will have the latest from counts across the country.

This programme will be simulcast on the BBC News NI website and BBC iPlayer, on BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle, BBC Sounds, and BBC Two NI.

Click 'Watch live' at the top of the screen now.

Image source, Reuters

Counting votes can be a slow process as one member of staff found out at the RDS Count Centre in Dublin.

So far three seats have been declared and we still have 171 to go.

Get the kettle on and get your snacks ready, it could be a long few days!

Hayley Halpin
BBC News NI

Image source, RTÉ

Speaking to RTÉ News, Aontú leader and TD for Meath West Peadar Tóibín, said this has been a “good election” for his party.

“We could be competing with the Green Party for the sixth largest party in the state,” he predicted.

Tóibín was the only Aontú candidate elected as TD in the 2020 general election. He is hopeful that there will be at least one other Aontú TD back in the Dáil with him this time around.

When asked if he thinks he will be involved in talks to form a government, Tóibín said that today is “in many ways, a tough day for people who wanted change”.

“There is a significant chance that Fine Gael will be returned to government and that will bring it to 19 years, solid Fine Gael government. That’s a hard thing for many people to grapple with,” he said.

“We said very clearly that we wouldn’t put Fine Gael and the Greens back into government. Fianna Fáil have become wedded, in many ways, to Fine Gael, too.”

Aontú describes itself as a "32 county all-Ireland Republican party, dedicated to protecting life, Irish reunification and economic justice for all". The party has been led by Tóibín since its foundation in 2019.

Image source, PA Media

Speaking to reporters in Cork South-Central, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said Stephen Donnelly, who has been Health Minister since 2020, is still in contention for a seat in Wicklow, and that a lot would depend on transfers.

"Of course, that constituency lost a seat in terms of the boundary re-draw and therefore, it was always going to be difficult, and it was always going to be competitive there, and we knew that," Martin said.

He declined to comment on whether he would be beginning talks with Fine Gael once again or weighing up his options for the next government.

"It is just far too early to get into that kind of specifics or speculation," Martin said.

"We would be very anxious just as we were on the last occasion, to make that a government is formed that can go the distance, the full five years again."

Click play at the top of this page to get the latest updates and analysis as results come through.

Presenters Chris Buckler and Elaine McGee will have the latest from counts across the country while Luke Sproule will have all the figures from the BBC News NI election centre.

Chris and Elaine will be joined by Margaret O'Callaghan, a senior lecturer in politics at Queen's University Belfast and Michelle Gildernew, a former Sinn Féin MP who ran as a candidate in the Irish European elections for the party.

Also joining them will be Dan Mulhall, former Ambassador of Ireland to the United States and BBC News NI's political correspondent Gareth Gordon.

We'll be live at the RDS count centre in Dublin and at counts across the country.

This programme will be simulcast on the BBC News NI website and BBC iPlayer, on BBC Radio Ulster/Foyle, BBC Sounds, and BBC Two NI.

Click 'Watch live' at the top of the screen now.

Image source, RTÉ

Deputy leader of Fine Gael and Justice Minister Helen McEntee told RTÉ News that she will "probably" be elected on the second count in Meath East.

Speaking of Fine Gael's performance in this election, McEntee said: "There are certainly some constituencies where we are facing an uphill battle, as you mentioned Donegal and Kerry being two of them, but at the same time we have other constituencies where we are regaining seats we haven’t had."

Emma Orr
BBC News NI in Dublin

Car enthusiasts have been getting a bit of a shock at the RDS arena this evening with a few ending up at the election count centre rather than a car show being held in a different section of the venue.

Philip Harford and Mick Duffy are hoping to attend the Coolnights motor show.

Sounds like both the count and the motor show are revving up for a busy night

Image source, RTÉ

Another TD is in.

Fine Gael's Patrick O'Donovan has been elected to Limerick County on first count. He received 11,563 votes.

Image source, Reuters

As we wait for the results, we've been hearing from voters about what they think about the political parties and the government.

Debra Nolan, a care home worker, tells the Reuters news agency that she thinks Fine Gael "have done very well", adding that she thinks Taoiseach Simon Harris, leader of the party and government, "can do good".

"There has been a lot of problems in this country, there's a lot to do, I do believe there's a lot to do for this country," the 59-year-old says.

Sandra Smyth says she thinks the country needs a "new challenge", adding that she doesn't think the current government is "doing enough" for Ireland.

"The hospital crisis is getting worse, the housing crisis has gotten worse ... and it just seems to be getting worse, doesn't seem to be getting any better in this country," the 49-year-old Dublin resident tells Reuters.

Barry O'Connor
BBC News NI

Image source, Reuters

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald has arrived at the RDS count centre.

She thanks supporters for the "powerful and strong mandate" they have given Sinn Féin, "to make life better for you".

She says it has been an incredible performance from all of their candidates and Sinn Féin.

"Over a short few weeks, we have received a result that many people thought wouldn't be possible."

She said that another five years of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would be a "bad news for our society".

"We will be talking to people about the possibility of government," she said.

"Two party politics is now gone, it’s consigned to the dustbin of history," McDonald said.

“Sinn Féin has a very strong mandate from the people. Other parties of the left, others like us that want change similarly have secured a strong mandate."

Peter Coulter
BBC News NI

Image source, PA Media

On every general election campaign trail there is always one spot that each politician wants to be pictured at.

In Ireland, that's popping into Helen Drumm's shop Sound Quality Gifts in Monaghan for a quick jive with the social media star.

The Taoiseach Simon Harris and the Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald both had to dance when they called in.

Helen Drumm has built a social media following through plugging items for sale in her shop in her own unique way.

Customers visiting her shop are often filmed dancing, jiving and singing on her social media accounts.

Image source, PA Media

The first TD is in.

Fine Gael Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has been elected in Dún Laoghaire.

Image source, RTÉ

Image source, Reuters

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin arrives at the Cork South Central count centre.

The Tánaiste has been a member of parliament in Ireland since 1989.

Martin became the Taoiseach in 2020 after Fianna Fáil entered into a coalition government with its main opponent Fine Gael and the Green Party.

Fine Gael's Leo Varadkar took over as Taoiseach in December 2022 and stepped down from the position in April 2024. Simon Harris has held the position since.