UPDATES WITH MORE DETAILS
By Burak Bir
LONDON (AA) - Ireland will hold parliamentary elections in the last week of this month, the nation's prime minister, or taoiseach, announced on Friday.
Simon Harris confirmed in an address that he is seeking the dissolution of the Dail, the country's parliament, and said the elections will be conducted on Nov. 29, Friday.
He said that the coalition government, Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and The Green Party, had made "real progress," although, he added that they "did not agree on every issue but we did always work hard and together for the good of the Irish people."
The prime minister also noted that he plans to visit Aras an Uachtarain soon to ask President Michael Higgins to dissolve parliament.
Later, public broadcaster RTE reported that Harris and Higgins moved to the staterooms where the official dissolution of the 33rd Dail will take place.
Harris, who was in the Hungarian capital Budapest for the European Political Community (EPC) summit, arrived in the Government Buildings in Dublin on Friday afternoon to announce the election date.
The 38-year-old primer became Fine Gael leader and the nation's taoiseach in April, following the resignation of his predecessor Leo Varadkar.
Issues like health, housing, the cost of living, and immigration are expected to dominate the election campaigns in the country.
The ruling coalition government has been under criticism for not being able to address the worsening housing crisis.
A few days ago, the coalition government pledged to build 50,000 houses a year until the end of the decade.
Following the election announcement, Mary Lou McDonald, leader of Irish nationalist Sinn Fein, called on citizens to vote to change the government.
"We are ready to lead Government and deliver for workers and families, for communities, and for Ireland," she said.
Most governments in Ireland have been coalitions between two or more parties as no single party has won the majority of the seats in a Dail in more than 40 years.
Currently, there are 43 Dail constituencies and a total of 174 TDs (MPs) will be selected in the upcoming elections.