Labour leader Brendan Howlin has been re-elected to the Dáil in the Wexford constituency on the eighth count.
Mr Howlin was the second TD to be elected in Wexford, following Sinn Féin's Johnny Mythen who topped the poll in the first count yesterday.
Brendan Howlin, Labour leader and again Wexford TD says he is pleased to be elected. Says they had ambitions to progress further and were "blindsided" by Sinn Fein. pic.twitter.com/8rVJ3UCGjp
— RTEwexford (@RTEwexford) February 10, 2020
They were joined in the 33rd Dáil by Independent Verona Murphy, Fianna Fáil's James Browne and Paul Kehoe of Fine Gael.
Outgoing TD Michael D'Arcy of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil's recent by-election winner Malcolm Byrne lost out.
Mr Howlin said his party was "blindsided" by the surge in support for Sinn Féin and there are now three clear blocks in the Dáil and said it was incumbent on two of those groups to form a stable government.
Mr Howlin said the figures do not stack up for Mary Lou McDonald to create a left alternative government.
Ultimately, he said, this would be Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael together, or Sinn Féin with one of those parties.
He said he believed there might be a few weeks of "conditioning", but he believes that Sinn Féin will join forces with either Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.
When asked if he would remain as Labour leader, he said that he would do what is best for the Labour Party.
Mr D'Arcy, a Fine Gael Junior Minister, lost his seat, having been eliminated on the 10th count. He was fewer than 100 votes behind his party colleague Mr Kehoe.
In Dublin North-West, Social Democrat co-leader Róisín Shortall has been re-elected, joining co-leader Catherine Murphy who was re-elected in the Kildare North constituency yesterday.
This is the moment @RoisinShortall @SocDems learned of her re election #dubnw #ge2020 pic.twitter.com/t6Hm9LO6sW
— RTEdublinNORTHWEST (@RTEdubNORTHWEST) February 10, 2020
Ms Shortall said she was willing to speak to all parties.
"We are still waiting for ... seats to be filled, so it's very hard to know what the final lie of the land will be, we are waiting on that, obviously our concentration is on our own performance and winning as many seats as we can," she said.
"We just don't know how things will shake out. It will be two or three days before the final seats are filled and we'll look at the situation then.
"The priority is to ensure that the big problems in the country are solved. That's what we're about, it's about putting forward positive solutions to the problems the country is facing - that's what the public want us to do."
Asked if she would be part of a government including Sinn Féin and Fianna Fáil, Ms Shortall said it would all depend on the final breakdown on numbers in the Dáil.
