Ireland's two large centre-right parties looked on course to be returned to power after an election on Friday, but they will likely need at least one junior partner to reach a majority, raising questions about the stability of the next government.

Ballot boxes were opened at 9 a.m. (0900GMT) at count centers across the country, kicking off long hours, or even days, of tallying the results. If the exit poll is borne out, that could be followed by days or weeks of negotiations to form a coalition government.