Irish Voters Head to Polls In Tight Race

DUBLIN, Ireland — Ireland's political parties were maneuvering yesterday to keep Sinn Fein from brokering power in the republic as voters went to the polls in one of the tightest elections in the country's history.

As the nation cast its votes, the republic's longest serving prime minister, Bertie Ahern, was facing a battle for survival despite reigning over a decade of unprecedented economic success.

Opinion polls throughout the campaign have suggested that the election is too close to call and that the man, who became known as the "Teflon Taoiseach" during his 10 years at the helm, could yet come unstuck.

What is certain is that Ireland's proportional representation system means that negotiations to form a new ruling coalition will determine Mr. Ahern's fate.

As leader of Fianna Fail, the party founded by Eamon De Valera, which opposed the 1921 treaty that led to the partition of Ireland, Mr. Ahern has been in power with the right-wing Progressive Democrats.

He faces a challenge from Enda Kenny, the leader of Fine Gael — a party with similar policies descended from the Irish who supported the treaty negotiated with London by Michael Collins.

Fine Gael has traditionally formed an alliance with Labour to challenge Fianna Fail, and this time they appear to be succeeding. A poll published in the Irish Independent yesterday showed Fianna Fail and the PDs on a combined share of the vote of 41%.

A potential rainbow coalition that could be formed among Fine Gael, Labour, and the Greens had 43% among them.

The rise of Sinn Fein south of the border has added intrigue to the election. The Sinn Fein president who is not standing, Gerry Adams, has predicted that his party will double its representation in the 166-seat Irish Parliament (or Dail) to 10 from five members. Such a rise could put the party at the heart of coalition negotiations.

Although the IRA has been judged to have abandoned weapons and Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness is in power with Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionists in Northern Ireland, such a scenario remains hard to swallow for many. Yesterday the prospect of traditional allegiances being broken down was raised when the Labour leader, Pat Rabbitte, hinted that he might be prepared to do a deal with Mr. Ahern.