<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> In Ireland, direct elections by universal suffrage are used for the President, the ceremonial head of state; for Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas or parliament; for the European Parliament; and for local government . All elections use the single transferable vote (STV) in constituencies returning three or more members, except that the presidential election and by - elections use the single - winner analogue of STV, elsewhere called instant - runoff voting or the alternative vote . Members of Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Oireachtas, are partly nominated, partly indirectly elected, and partly elected by graduates . </P> <P> STV is a form of proportional representation, and coalition governments have been the rule since 1989 . Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael were the largest parties in every general election from 1927 to 2007, with the Labour Party usually third . Smaller parties and independents exist in the Dáil and more so in local government . </P> <P> Residents of the state who are Irish citizens or British citizens may participate in elections to the national parliament . Residents who are citizens of any EU state may vote in European Parliament elections, while any resident, regardless of citizenship, may participate in local elections . </P>

Who is the person that calls out the results of an election