Ireland goes to the polls today in a vote that looks closer than previously expected after prime minister Simon Harris lost the momentum that motivated him to call the the snap general election just three weeks ago.

A fumbled meeting with a voter may dent Simon Harris’s popularity. But his coalition government’s main opposition, the nationalist party Sinn Fein, will likely remain locked out of power.

His more experienced coalition partner, Micheál Martin, appears best positioned to lead the next government — and insists he won’t turn left to Sinn Féin or right to anti-immigrant