Ireland's Ahern set for record third term

Ireland's Taoiseach Bertie Ahern looks set for a record third term in power, but may have to find a new coalition partner to secure a majority.

According to an exit poll for national broadcaster RTE, Mr Ahern's ruling Fianna Fail party has 41.6 per cent of the vote - slightly above what it won in the 2002 contest when it secured 81 Dail seats.

Meanwhile, support for his coalition partner, the pro-business Progressive Democrats, has fallen to 2.6 per cent and Mr Ahern may have to coalesce with Labour for only the second time in its history or negotiate a first-ever deal with the Greens.

Mr Ahern, whose party has been in power for ten years, had a shaky start to his election campaign due to questions over his personal finances. However, the meltdown in support predicted by some commentators appears not to have materialised.

Counting begins at 9am and Roger Jupp, managing director of Lansdowne Market Research which conducted the poll, said: "It's going to definitely be an extremely close, long process."

Fine Gael, which hopes to lead an "Alliance for Change" alternative government with Labour, is on 26.3 per cent while Labour itself slipped 1 per cent to 9.9 per cent.

The Greens are up 1 per cent at 4.8 per cent, while Sinn Fein also gained 1 per cent to 7.3 per cent. Independents and the Socialist Party are down nearly 3 per cent to 4.8 per cent.

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