Whatever happens on Saturday, as RTÉ's Mary Regan writes, this election is set to change the face of Irish politics.
When Leo Varadkar stood on the steps of Government Buildings to call time on the last Dáil, ending weeks of 'will he won't he' speculation, few predicted the course that this election would take.
This prompted Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe - in a sometimes overlooked intervention of this campaign - to accuse Fianna Fáil of going around the country thinking the election was going to "fall in to their lap."Waiting quietly in the wings was Sinn Féin who appeared to come from nowhere to shake up this general election campaign in a way few, least of all themselves, expected.
While Sinn Fein was short on policy launches throughout the campaign, it appears to have won plaudits from younger voters in particular for its well-articulated proposals on housing, including an eye-catching offer to freeze rents. The sense now going in to polling day is that Fine Gael has slumped; Fianna Fáil is trying to regain some of the momentum that it had at the start of the campaign but had lost by the midway point. And the impact of the controversy around Sinn Féin makes that party’s performance an unknown factor.
The first is the continuing political fallout of the economic crash and the consequent austerity programme. The stage is set for the third act which could see space opening up for Sinn Féin or a broader left bloc to take centre stage. In the final day of the campaign Mr Varadkar has been telling reporters not to write his obituary just yet. The strange new creature of Irish politics, the "shy Fine Gael voter" might make their presence felt and make him the comeback kid. But it’s looking unlikely.
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