DUBLIN, Ireland, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Fine Gael, with 70 of 153 seats already in hand Sunday night, was on the brink of claiming leadership of the next Irish government, election results indicated.
Labor Party candidates had won only half as many seats in Parliament -- 35 -- with Finna Fail taking 18, Sinn Fein 13, ULA four and Independents 13, The Irish Times reported. There were still 13 seats being contested, the newspaper said.
Fine Gael may have to work out a deal with another party to secure a majority in the 166-seat Dail.
The elections were a setback for Fianna Fail, which had its worst showing ever, and the Green Party lost all six of its seats. The Labor Party enjoyed its greatest success and Sein Fein was poised to triple its number of seats.
"We now stand at a transformative moment in Ireland's history," Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said. "We stand on the brink of fundamental change in how we regard ourselves, how we regard our economy and how we regard our society."
He said his priority would be to rebuild Ireland's economy. Ireland's banks had to be bailed out and the Irish government subsequently needed a big financial helping hand from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to avoid a collapse of the economy.
