Polls opened at 7am on Friday for voters to decide who will form Ireland’s next government.
Some 174 seats across 43 constituencies in Ireland’s parliament, the Dail, are being contested.
The vote will close at 10pm with counting expected to start on Saturday morning.
A young girl helps put a vote in the ballot box at St Anthony’s Boys’ School, Beechwood Park, Ballinlough, in Cork (Jacob King/PA)
Ms Higgins holds up a ballot paper with Chico still under her other arm (Niall Carson/PA)
Mr Higgins and his wife Sabina speak to staff overseeing voting at St Mary’s Hospital (Brian Lawless/PA)
Taoiseach and Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and his wife, Caoimhe, cast their votes at Delgany National School, County Wicklow, with their children (Niall Carson/PA)
Saoirse is five years old while Cillian is aged three (Niall Carson/PA)
Ms McDonald faces a wall of photographers and reporters as she dropped her vote into the ballot box (Brian Lawless/PA)
Mr Martin speaking to the media as he casts his vote at St Anthony’s Boys’ School, Beechwood Park, Ballinlough, Cork (Jacob King/PA)
Voter turnout is expected to be a crucial factor in this General Election, with several opinion polls putting the three biggest parties within touching distance of one another (Brian Lawless/PA)
