WHEN polling stations closed on February 26th, Fine Gael and Labour, the two parties that have governed Ireland since 2011, were hoping for a surprise result like the one Britain’s Conservatives achieved last May. They had come to power with the largest majority in Irish history, but five years of austerity had drained their support. Instead, the result was worse than expected: the political fragmentation seen in recent elections across Europe hit both parties hard.

Fine Gael, a centre-right party whose leader Enda Kenny has been taoiseach (prime minister) since 2011, lost nearly a third of its vote. Labour, its centre-left partner, suffered worse still, losing two-thirds. The polls had predicted Labour’s rout, but for Fine Gael the shock was greater. Its gaffe-prone campaign was clearly not up to scratch: at one point Mr Kenny managed to insult some of his own constituents as champion “whingers”. Fine Gael relied on broadcast messages aimed at all voters. This proved less effective than the Conservatives’ campaign last year, which targeted swing voters with tailored messages.

More tellingly, Fine Gael’s slogan, “Let’s keep the recovery going”, which it borrowed from the Conservatives, failed to resonate. As in recent elections in Portugal and Spain, the emphasis on economic competence fell flat with voters, says Dan O’Brien of the Institute of International and European Affairs, a Dublin think-tank. Although Ireland recorded GDP growth of nearly 7% in 2015, one exit poll found that only 26% of voters felt better off than a year ago. The country’s GDP figures include profits of multinational firms headquartered for tax reasons in Ireland, but much of that money never reaches the Irish. GNP, which excludes income earned by foreigners, has been flat in real terms since the end of 2014.