Kenny fails to win governing majority in Irish elections

Prime Minister Enda Kenny's outgoing coalition failed to win a majority in Irish elections, final results showed on Thursday, heralding tough talks to form a new government that could last for weeks.

Kenny's Fine Gael party won 50 out of 158 parliamentary seats, followed by traditional rival Fianna Fail with 44 seats, raising the possibility of an unprecedented coalition between the two.

Sinn Fein, the former political wing of the IRA in Northern Ireland which campaigned against budget cuts, won 23 seats and the Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit group won six seats.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, both centrist parties, trace their origins back to opposing sides in Ireland's civil war in the 1920s and long-standing allegiances will hamper any coalition talks.

An 80-seat majority in the parliament, or Dail, is required to govern and analysts have warned that another possible scenario is a minority government led by Fine Gael or Fianna Fail supported by smaller parties which could prove shaky at best.

The other possibility would be new elections.

The outgoing coalition campaigned on a platform of maintaining a recovery that has seen Ireland become the fastest-growing country in the European Union, but which many feel has yet to improve things for ordinary people squeezed by years of austerity cuts.

The swing to anti-establishment and anti-austerity parties echoed recent elections in other eurozone countries like Spain and Portugal which also led to political deadlock.

Weeks of uncertainty could lie ahead and the first test of whether a government can be formed will be March 10, when the newly-elected deputies are to meet in parliament and try to appoint a prime minister.