Ireland goes to the polls on Friday with the incumbent coalition parties neck-and-neck with opposition party, Sinn Fein, after a campaign marked by rancour over housing and cost-of-living crises. Polls open across the country at 0700 GMT and close at 2200 GMT as voters choose new members of the 174-seat lower chamber of parliament,

Ireland is voting in a parliamentary election that will determine the country's next government; voters are selecting more than 170 lawmakers to sit in the Dail.

Counting begins in Ireland as the ruling center-right coalition looks set for re-election:::: Dublin, IrelandThe exit poll put the left wing Sinn Fein on 21.1%, the center-right Fine Gael of Prime Minister Simon Harris on 21.