Ireland prepares for 3-week campaign to decide next prime minister

Ireland's President dissolves Parliament, setting the stage for a Nov. 29 election to determine government control.

Ireland’s President Michael Higgins dissolved Parliament Friday (November 8, 2024), clearing the way for a November 29 election that will determine who controls government.

Prime Minister Simon Harris, who had until March to call an election, had announced the date Wednesday (November 6, 2024).

A historic coalition government led by Harris’ centre-right Fine Gael party and its centre-left rival Fianna Fail has been in power since the 2020 race ended in a virtual dead heat.

“We did not agree on every issue, but we did always work hard and together for the good of the Irish people,” Mr. Harris said. “The time is now right to ask the Irish people to give a new mandate.”

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, which arose from opposing sides of Ireland’s 1920s civil war, shared a broadly centrist outlook and had alternated holding power to govern Ireland over the decades. The two set aside their differences in 2020 to work together, bringing the Green Party along as a junior partner.

Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin served as premier for the first half of the term and was replaced by Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar in December 2022.

Mr. Harris took over when Varadkar stepped down earlier this year.