Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris’s Fine Gael party is locked in a virtual dead heat with Sinn Fein in the general election, suggesting his decision to go to the country early didn’t yield the advantage he predicted.

An exit poll in the Republic of Ireland suggests that Sinn Féin has 21.1% of first preference votes with Fine Gael having 21%, making the result of the general election too close to call. The poll indicates Fianna Fáil has 19.5% of first preference votes.

An exit poll in Ireland's general election suggests the three biggest parties have won roughly equal shares and the country is headed for another coalition government.

The exit poll put the left wing Sinn Fein on 21.1%, the centre-right Fine Gael of Prime Minister Simon Harris on 21.0% and like-minded coalition partner Fianna Fail on 19.5%. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail pledged ahead of the election to seek to form a coalition without Sinn Fein,

Ireland's main opposition party Sinn Fein looked on course to narrowly win the most votes at a general election on Friday, but its two main centre-right rivals will likely have enough seats to govern again without it,

Sinn Féin leads in the Irish General Election exit poll with 21.1% of first-preference votes, followed closely by Fine Gael at 21% and Fianna Fáil at 19.5%.