DUBLIN  -  Vote counting in Ireland’s general election began Saturday with an exit poll indicating a tight finish with the incumbent centre-right coalition most likely to form the next government. After voting concluded Friday, the exit poll indicated that the leftist-nationalist Sinn Fein, the main opposition party, narrowly led with 21.1 percent of the vote.  But neck and neck on 21.0 percent was the centre-right Fine Gael whose leader is the outgoing prime minister Simon Harris. Fine Gael’s centre-right partner in the outgoing coalition -- Fianna Fail, led by deputy prime minister Micheal Martin -- were slightly further back in third with 19.5 percent. “Forming a government will depend on two of the three being able to cooperate with one another,” Lisa Keenan, a political scientist at Trinity College Dublin, told AFP. But Fine Gael and Fianna Fail are “in the driving seat to reestablish coalition” in the new 174-seat lower chamber of parliament, said the Irish Times newspaper. During the campaign both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael ruled out entering coalition with Sinn Fein, who also prioritise Irish unification.  “Sinn Fein could well finish first in the popular vote for the second time in a row, but face another five years in opposition,” said the paper.  At the last general election in 2020, Sinn Fein -- the former political wing of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army -- won the largest vote share but could not find willing coalition partners.