Irish Election Produces an Earthquake as Sinn Fein Tops Poll

Thomas Gould of Sinn Fein tops the poll and is elected in Cork North Central, during the Irish General Election count at the Nemo Rangers GAA Club in Cork, Ireland. Yui Mok/PA via AP

DUBLIN—Ireland braced for weeks of political uncertainty on Feb. 10 after an earth-shaking election that saw the Irish Republican Army-linked party Sinn Fein—long shunned by its bigger rivals—take the largest share of votes.

In a surge that upended Ireland’s traditional two-party system, the left-wing nationalist party beat both Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, the centrist parties that have governed Ireland since it won independence from Britain a century ago.