The Green Party has high hopes of securing three seats in the European Parliament on the back of a strong showing in the exit polling and early tallies.
Counting is set to begin nationwide this afternoon in the local and European elections.
Early tallies and exit polling indicate a surge for the Green party at the polls swelled by younger voters, with 42% of those aged 18-24 saying they voted for the party.
Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin says Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has led Fine Gael to a weak performance.
"Who would have thought that Leo Varadkar would have presided over a worse local election result than Enda Kenny?" he said. "That is very much possible. It's wide open -- that's the lesson."
