After the voting concludes at 10pm tonight, attention will turn quickly to the results of the general election.
The first indications will come later tonight when the joint Irish Times/RTE/TG4/Trinity College Exit Poll is released. In Ireland, exit polls have historically been accurate when it comes to predicting the overall performance of the various parties, so that will be a major indicator.
However, the Irish system is complicated and fragmented: An exit poll will not tell you how individual candidates have performed, and may be unreliable about the chances of the many independent and smaller party candidates in with a shout of a seat in various constituencies.
For those candidates, the wait overnight will be excruciating.
When boxes are opened tomorrow morning, the first indications should begin to emerge around about 10am, when the first round of “tallies” from the count centres begin to become known. The picture in various constituencies will slowly unfold over the course of the morning, and into the afternoon. If history is any guide, the first complete counts will arrive by 4 or 5pm – but in some constituencies the full results could take days.
The Gript Media team will be based in the RDS tomorrow, where we will bring you live coverage from 10.30am – anchored by Sarah Ryan and myself – of the figures and the trends as they come in across the morning. We will be joined by Ben Scallan, Fatima Gunning, Niamh UiBhrian, Matt Treacy, and Laura Perrins throughout the day – and we’ll keep you posted with news updates and interviews across our social media channels as the day unfolds.
We’ll also have interviews with the winners and the losers, with a particular focus on the smaller parties and insurgent candidates trying – against the odds – to seal a breakthrough.
If you’re looking for an alternative to RTE or the other outlets, join the Gript Livestream – which will be on our youtube channel – throughout the day for conversation, analysis, and perhaps even a little humour.
In the meantime – be sure and go and vote. Polling stations are open, will remain so until 10pm, and you only need to bring your ID with you to cast a ballot.
If you want a re-cap on how to vote, here’s our own Ben Scallan with an entertaining breakdown of how the Irish PRSTV system works, and how you can use your vote to the maximum extent of its value: