Ireland’s president has formally dissolved the Dail parliament to mark the start of a general election campaign in the country.

President Michael Higgins began the start of a three-week long campaign today after Taoiseach Simon Harris previously revealed the date he hoped the country would head to the polls.

Mr Harris confirmed the polling date as 29 November on Friday, saying the “time is now right” to ask the Irish people for a new mandate.

The announcement brings to an end the four-and-a-half-year lifespan of the historic Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and Green Party coalition government.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald, speaking after the announcement, said: “There is a clear choice, another Fine Gael or Fianna Fail government or a new government for working people, for families and communities, a government led by Sinn Fein.”

She also listed a number of her party’s policies, including to “advance the preparation for Irish unity”.

“The need for change has never been more urgent, we simply cannot afford another five years of the same government,” she added.

Sinn Fein were the second biggest party in the Irish parliament until the dissolution.

Ms McDonald said her party were putting forward 71 candidates.

After the 2020 general election delivered an inconclusive result, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, two parties forged from opposing sides of Ireland’s civil war of the 1920s, agreed to set aside almost a century of animosity and share power.

The Green Party joined the administration as a junior partner.

Source:SkyNews