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

Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein appear to be neck-and-neck in an election exit poll released on Friday night, with Sinn Fein attracting 21.1% of the popular vote, followed by Fine Gael on 21% and Fianna Fail on 19.5%. The margin of error in the poll is around 1.4%, so there appears to be nothing between the main parties.