Final (? :) Update, Sun. May 27: see Way Below.

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With the official tally just underway on the customary & commendable Irishtime schedule :) following yesterday’s Poblacht na hÉireann general election, the results are in for the punters:

The race to be the next Taoiseach is all over according to Paddy Power bookies, which has announced it is paying out on Bertie Ahern to fill the post.

The bookmaker’s Call is of course based on the Latest blight to arrive in Ireland from abroad: the Exit Poll ;> ~

Political parties are studying the results of an RTÉ exit poll which suggests that Fianna Fáil will win almost exactly the same share of the vote as in 2002, but that Fine Gael will increase its vote by around 4%.

The poll, carried out by Lansdowne Market Research, shows decreases in support for Labour and the PDs, while the Greens and Sinn Féin will be disappointed not to have made a major breakthrough.

The process of counting votes in the General Election is under way at 43 constituencies. Early tallies which are a strong indication of trends will be available by mid-morning.

First results are expected by mid-afternoon.

Whole thing. The polling is re First Preference votes only. Under Ireland’s very excellent :) Single Transferable Vote system, the “transfer votes” ~ occurring when your 1st Choice is eliminated and your Lesser ballot ranking(s) are added to a Survivor’s total in subsequent count(s) ~ can have a big impact on the final results.

Here’s a BBC take; and a couple of other BBC pieces, on life astride the Celtic Tiger in the little land that has become the Envy of all Europe :).

PM Ahern, by the way, despite his major role in Prodding & Cajoling them into making Peace & joining Government in the Six Counties, says his Fianna Fáil will not Coalesce with Sinn Féin in governance of the Republic.

For those who wish to join me in breathlessly following the returns as they creep in :) here’s the Radio Telefís Éireann election 2007 main page.

UPDATE 3:45 p.m. EDT: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern looks on pace for a 3rd term, though the identity of Fianna Fáil’s prospective coalition partner(s) is less clear. Here’s an auto-updating summary of the declared national results.

Also quite significantly, the Toilets are open again at the vote-counting centre for the Wicklow district:

…However due to a scare over water contamination, there is no drinking water available…

It was understood a tanker was en route to provide drinking water…

Drinking? Water? Shudder… :)

UPDATE 2, 1:00 a.m. EDT: With counting complete in 34 of the 43 constituencies, for 145 out of the 166 Dáil seats, Bertie Ahern’s Fianna Fáil (translation, Soldiers of Destiny :) has taken 72, to a combined total of 73 for all other parties and independents. / The Transfer votes in the 21 seats remaining Undeclared will tell the Tale.

UPDATE 3, Sun. May 27 4:30 a.m. EDT:

With all 166 seats Declared, Fianna Fáil wins 78 to an aggregate 88 for all others. Breakdown:

Fianna Fáil 78
Fine Gael 51
Labour 20
Progressive Democrats 2
Green Party 6
Sinn Féin 4
Others 5

Bertie Ahern is now Cogitating over with Whom to coalesce for to Get to Eighty-Four and a Government. / Evidently it can’t be #2 Fine Gael (which made a Big comeback in this election), since they are the core of the present-day center-left Opposition and (oddly) also the political descendant of the ancestral Pro-Partition Foe in the unCivil-War Troubles of the 1920’s. / And apparently, as well as somewhat Paradoxically, the hard-socialist Sinn Féin (whose showing was distinctly Disappointing) can’t be a Partner either, since Bertie has ruled that option Out despite his Coaxing & Bullying of SF into Participation in Peaceful nonParamilitary Politics in the North. / But, it seems, all Other options are on the Table in The Repooblich. :>