(Source: www.pixabay.com)The battle lines have been drawn for the general election, according to a Government Minister.
Yesterday the Electoral Commission released the re-drawing of Dáil constituency boundaries - creating 14 new TDs as a result.
But there are suggestions the redraw points to only one likely Government next time around.
A majority in the next Dáil will be 87 seats so that's the minimum needed for a Government.
Even if Sinn Féin were to double their seats, which would be very optimistic, they would be 15 votes short of a majority.
It seems pretty unlikely they'll be able to make that up with smaller parties given Sinn Féin is going to take votes away from them.
That means they'd need to coalesce with a larger party - so the only combination that makes sense based purely on the likely maths is a Sinn Féin - Fianna Fáil Government.
