DUBLIN, Ireland, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Early returns from Ireland's national elections Saturday suggested the opposition had routed the ruling party, national media said.
State broadcaster RTE said exit polls indicated the Fine Gael party had a "huge" majority over the incumbent Fianna Fail party, although official results weren't due for two days, the BBC reported.
Fine Gael party leader Enda Kenny told media during the election run-up his party's goal was to renegotiate the terms of the $117 billion bail-out Ireland got from the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
The BBC said Fianna Fail is traditionally centrist while Fine Gael is more conservative.
The Irish parliament, called the Dail, has 166 seats. Early indications said independents took more than 15 percent of the vote, a record for the republic.
RTE said Fine Gael won 36.1 percent of the vote while the leftist Labor party had its best showing ever at 20.5 percent.
