Ireland's health minister has conceded that the governing coalition had failed to win re-election, as early indications showed support for both Fine Gael and its junior partner Labour had slumped.
"The people have clearly decided not to re-elect this government and have given my party and the Labour party a very serious drubbing," health minister Leo Varadkar, who belongs to the Fine Gael party of prime minister Enda Kenny, said yesterday.
"I don't think that the obligation to form a government necessarily falls on us automatically," he told RTE television, suggesting that opposition parties could also negotiate to see if they could form a viable government.
