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M. Continuo

Ireland's Fine Gael claims election victory


    DUBLIN (Reuters) - The head of Ireland's opposition Fine Gael party Saturday claimed victory in the general election, saying he had been given a mandate to form the next government.

    "This country has given my party a massive endorsement to provide stable and strong government," Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny told reporters in his constituency in the west of Ireland.

    Voters incensed at the country's financial collapse and a humiliating bailout, routed the outgoing Fianna Fail government in Friday's vote, leaving it in third place for the first time in its history.

    Exit polls indicated that Kenny would fall short of an overall majority, and he was widely expected to form a coalition with centre-left rival Labour.

    (Reporting by the Dublin bureau)