Wouldn't you need 88 for a majority? Wikipedia suggests the Irish Ceann Comhairle follows something akin to Speaker Denison's Rule from Westminster system countries so in the event of a tie, they'd vote against the motion, which means you need 50%+1 seats to form a majority.
Yep exactly, and the Ceann Comhairle is in FF so to form a government FF and FG would need at minimum 2 more TDs, but may wish to get some more as a buffer to account for any internal issues that could arise over the next few years (a TD leaving the party and going independent).
Edit: Apologies meant to say they need 87. 174 -1 (CC) is 173, so 87 required for majority when CC is excluded.
A sublemmy for the loveliest country on earth.
