Irish Voters Go to the Polls

After four weeks of campaigning that adorned the nation's lampposts with grinning personality posters and revealed Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's taste in interior decor, polling stations opened their doors today to Ireland's three million registered electors.

Voting started at 7.30am continues in the Republic's 43 multi-member constituencies until 10.30pm tonight. Ballot boxes will be held overnight and counting does not begin until tomorrow at 9am.

Candidates name appear in alphabetical order on the single-transferable voting papers. Electronic voting machines - due to have been introduced nationwide - were abandoned several years ago after it was shown that their accuracy could not be verified by a paper trail. The unused machines cost €52m (£35m).

Fianna Fail - the main party in the outgoing coalition government - has put up the most candidates (106), followed by Fine Gael (91), the Labour party (50), the Progressive Democrats (30), the Greens (43) and Sinn Fein (41).

Among the other political labels used by candidates are the Christian Solidarity party, the People Before Profit Alliance and the Immigration Control Platform. Despite the transformation of Irish society over the past decade and the influx of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers - mainly from eastern Europe - and asylum-seekers, race relations and immigration have not been a significant factor in the election.

Voting has already taken place on the islands off the west coast of the Republic. The ballot boxes are traditionally set up several days early in case Atlantic storms make it impossible to ship them over to the mainland in time for the count. The residents of Tory, Gola, Inisfree and Inisbofin islands off County Donegal were the first to vote on Monday.

Broadcasting organizations observed a period of political silence starting yesterday, avoiding coverage of the election campaign until polling stations close. There are strict financial limits imposed on expenses incurred by candidates during the election. At the last contest in 2002, Fianna Fail spent a total of €3.5m and Fine Gael €2.3m.

Having criss-crossed Ireland in a sometimes frantic bid to meet as many Irish men and women as possible, the Fine Gael opposition leader, Enda Kenny, will be in his native town of Castlebar, County Mayo, to cast his vote. Mr Ahern will go to a polling station near his home in Drumcondra, north Dublin.

In the early stage of the campaign the taoiseach came under heavy pressure to reveal details about how he had bought his house, what he had paid for its conservatory and where he had bought his interior decor. He denied that he and his then partner, Celia Larkin, had received money as a favor from a local businessman. In the later stages his party staged a recovery in the polls after Mr Ahern was seen to have won the only televised debate between himself and Mr Kenny.

The country's lampposts have been overwhelmed with candidates' posters. Sinn Fein, which enthusiastically put up posters for their Donegal candidates across the border in neighboring County Tyrone, were ordered to take them down by Omagh council.

Bookmakers have been gradually shortening the likelihood of Fianna Fail returning to power. The most likely scenario, at odds of 9-4, is that Fianna Fail and Labour, having switched sides, combine to form a new administration.

A coalition of the main opposition parties, Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens is at 5-2. Odds of a Fianna Fail/Green alliance are at 7-2 and Fianna Fail/Sinn Fein at a more improbable 9-1.

Each party's national percentage of first preference votes should be known on tomorrow but the final result in terms of seats in the Dail could take days to establish.