Ireland is voting in a parliamentary election that will decide the next government. It also will show whether Ireland bucks the global trend of incumbents being ousted by disgruntled voters.

Polls open in election to choose Ireland's next government after A campaign dominated by housing and immigration

The Republic of Ireland elects its government using a system of proportional representation known as the single transferable vote. Voters will have the opportunity to rank candidates in their constituency in order of preference, marking their favourite with a number one, a number two beside their next choice and so on.