Historically speaking, this is not an unfamiliar outcome.
Fianna Fáil has emerged from last Friday's general election as the top party in terms of secured seats in the next Dáil.
At time of writing the party's tally is 46 seats. Fine Gael have secured 38 seats and Sinn Féin 37.
The enlarged Dáil now seats 174 TDs so a minimum majority is 88.
With this being the case a return to a three party coalition seems more than likely.
The outgoing government is made up of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens. But the Greens have all been wiped out in the vote count so a third party in a new government could well be Labour or the Social Democrats. Both parties have won eleven seats at time of writing.
The new Dáil is set to meet on December 18 but negotiations to form a new governing coalition could take some weeks. In the meantime, the current government will continue to function at ministerial level.
