Announcing early voting in three weeks, Harris told voters that “only you are sovereign.”

“You go out and you vote, and in return you get good government and hard work.”

The Fine Gael leader said the coalition government – ​​made up of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party – had made “real progress” and thanked its coalition partners.

“We didn’t agree on every issue, but we always worked hard and together for the good of the Irish people.”

Harris went on to say that Ireland is a “small country with big influence around the world.”

“We have many assets, but none is more valuable than our people,” he added.

The taoiseach said parties would seek alternative mandates on Ireland’s future over the next three weeks, and it was “vital” that an election took place to examine the different “visions for the future economic and social of our country.

Harris also called for the election to be a “safe and respectful campaign” for politicians and their teams.

“Finally, I ask just one thing of the Irish people: value your vote, use your voice,” he said.

“This is how this country works, this is how we listen, this is how we act on your behalf.”

Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin have already vowed not to form a coalition before the general election.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Martin said it was not a given that his party would return to government with Fine Gael.

He said his party would campaign on its own merits.

“Debate is the lifeblood of democracy and elections.

“I am looking forward to the debates because the government will present its priorities, its policies, as we did during the last elections,” he added.

Martin said Sinn Féin had ruled out working with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and had also ruled out working with them.

“We have a multi-party system, or a proportional representation system, that gives us good diversity. I’m not going to predict anything, the campaign dynamics will take over.”

Speaking at the official launch of her party’s election campaign, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said it was an “election of a lifetime” for the first time in 100 years , the Irish people had “a chance of electing a government that did not include Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael”.

She rejected any suggestion that recent controversies could harm the party in the election.

She said the party was strong and was approaching the campaign with determination.

She also claimed to have the strongest frontline team in the election.

Sinn Féin has selected 71 candidates and could increase this number further.

In this general election, the number of DTs (MPs) standing for election and the number of constituencies will increase following a 2023 review.

There are now 43 Dáil constituencies – an increase of four on 2020 – which will each elect between three and five TDs.

In total, 174 TDs will be selected, which means that 88 TDs will be needed to form a majority government.

The application deadline is Saturday November 16 at 12:00 p.m.

Three parties – Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party – make up the coalition government in the Republic of Ireland.

Voters last went to the polls in February 2020, where Fianna Fáil won the most seats (38).

But the party failed to obtain a majority and began negotiations with Fine Gael, which then led the outgoing government, and the Green Party.

As part of this, the role of taoiseach was to be swapped between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael halfway through the five-year term – with Harris currently occupying the top post.

Sinn Féin, which recorded a historic result in the 2020 election after winning 37 seats, is currently leading the opposition.

A number of other parties, such as Labor, Social Democrats, People Before Profit, Aontú and Independents, also make up the opposition.

Analysis by BBC News NI political editor Enda McClafferty

When Higgins officially dissolves the Dáil, it will kick off the election campaign.

But it is clear that the parties were not waiting for this weapon: they have already started this morning.

Along the street, near government buildings, you can see the posters on lampposts and large screens put up across Dublin by Fianna Fáil trying to get people to vote for them.

Unsurprisingly, the campaign will only last three weeks, so time is of the essence.

This morning, Micheál Martin launched some first jabs at Sinn Féin, rejecting any plans to form a coalition government.

Mary Lou McDonald made clear on Thursday at her campaign launch that her preference was for a left-wing coalition led by Sinn Féin.

This is a sort of McDonald’s modeled after the party in 2020, which served them so well at the time.

And this model is built around change.

This time again it was the objective and an opportunity for the voters of the Republic to vote for real change, that is to say to have a government which includes neither Fianna Fáil nor Fine Gael for the first time in 100 years.

The government parties Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens also face big challenges, because over the last four years the lines between them have blurred, even though they are very different political parties, but they are now fishing in the same pond for votes.

So now they have to distinguish themselves from each other if they want to get the votes they need to get back into government and that’s going to be a bit of a challenge.