Announcement comes as polls show Simon Harris’s Fine Gael and coalition partners Fianna Fáil in position to win fourth term

Ireland will hold a general election on 29 November, the prime minister, Simon Harris, announced late on Wednesday, as polls show his centre-right party Fine Gael and coalition partner Fianna Fáil in position to win a fourth term.

The country has been on election footing for the past month after the taoiseach confirmed he preferred to hold an election this year.