Handling of Irish financial crisis blamed as Fianna Fáil is swept from power in its worst defeat since the formation of the Irish State.

Irish voters punished government coalition partners Fianna Fáil and the Greens in the Irish General Election held on 25 February 2011.

Fianna Fáil, which had 77 seats before the General Election, lost 57 seats and is now the third largest party in the chamber with only 20 seats. That represents 12% of the overall seats in the Dáil, the Irish Parliament.

It is the first time since the 1927 election that Fianna Fáil will not be the largest party in the chamber.

Even when Fianna Fáil was in opposition, it was still the largest party in the Dáil with well over 60 seats.

In the worst defeat of a sitting government since the formation of the Irish state, the republican party was replaced by Fine Gael as the largest party in Ireland for the first time since 1927.

In Dublin the party lost 12 of its 13 seats and senior party figures failed to get re-elected across the country's 43 constituencies .

Casualties of the party's electoral meltdown include Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) Mary Coughlan and senior cabinet members Mary Hanafin and Pat Carey.

The Green Party, the junior party in the government coalition with Fianna Fáil, was completely wiped out from the Dáil as it lost all the six seats it had previously held. As the party's share of the vote fell below 2%, the Greens will lose state funding for the party and will not be able to reclaim election expenses.