Whichever party ends up running Ireland, there’s no escaping the complications of Brexit

Editorial: It was hardly on the agenda in the recent poll, but given how much it matters to the Irish economy, it will be back soon enough

Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein leader, celebrates with supporters (AFP/Getty)

After its near-death experience during the financial crisis a decade ago, followed by a couple of short, sharp, recessions, Ireland’s economy has returned to healthy economic growth. The Celtic Tiger isn’t roaring again, but neither is it suffering from mange any longer. It enjoys higher GDP per capita than the UK, unemployment lower than the EU average, and attracts an impressive rate of foreign inward investment, thanks to a business-friendly environment and low-tax regime. The national record over the past few years is a testament to the sense and resilience of the people of Ireland.

Why then, such a substantial vote for Sinn Fein, a radical socialist party with a violent past and revolutionary traditions? Few argue that the Sinn Fein surge is anything other than a protest vote. Ireland has not suddenly become convinced that solving the national question – the status of Northern Ireland within the UK – is the most urgent facing the country.

Rather, as is also widely recognised, only Sinn Fein seemed to have the answers many voters were looking for on the bread-and-butter issues that dominated the campaign – housing and health. Nothing else came close, and the fact that Sinn Fein just edged the two mainstream parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, into the lead on voters’ first preferences was as much a vote against the old guard as much as a vote of confidence in the still relatively untried Sinn Fein.