Irish Parliament to dissolve for election

The Republic of Ireland's Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, will ask the president to dissolve parliament on Thursday, thus making way for a general election in May.

Mr Ahern made the announcement in parliament on Wednesday evening.

He is not due to give an exact date until he sees President Mary McAleese on Thursday morning.

Recent opinion polls have been predicting that Mr Ahern and his populist Fianna Fail party would win enough votes in an election to form a new coalition government.