BoyleSports suspends betting on timing of general election

Eva Osborne

Bookmaker BoyleSports has suspended betting on a general election taking place before the end of the year.

Taoiseach Simon Harris repeated his stance last week that he wants the Government to see out its full term, meaning voters would be called to the ballot box early in 2025.

Speculation is rife that the general election will be called earlier, BoyleSports said.

With Fine Gael and Micheál Martin election posters spotted in Dublin, rumours of an imminent announcement saw the odds of a pre-Christmas election plummet to 1/7 with BoyleSports before a fresh flurry of activity this week triggered a decision to stop taking bets.

Wonder what this will do to the rumours of an imminent general election (seen in Park West in Dublin)@rtepolitics @rtenews pic.twitter.com/3eKU0kSEys

— Fiachra Ó Cionnaith 😊 (@Ocionnaith) October 7, 2024

According to the bookmaker, Harris is now an odds-on favourite at 8/15 to continue as Taoiseach after the votes are counted, but Sinn Féin’s recent slide in the opinion polls means previous favourite Mary Lou McDonald is now a 4/1 shot to take over.

A spokesperson for BoyleSports said: “It seems a bit early to be pasting the billboards if we’re not going to the polls until next year and given the renewed gamble this week, we’ve been left wondering if something is brewing.”