Taoiseach Simon Harris confirms he will call general election on Friday after return from EU summit

"It's my intention then to seek dissolution of the Dáil by President Higgins on Friday and as I would have discussed with the other coalition leaders, it's my hope that we will have polling day in this country on the 29th of November," he said on RTÉ's Six One News yesterday.

It means the Taoiseach will start the first day of the election campaign in Budapest and end the day at the Ireland v New Zealand rugby match in Dublin.

In between, he is expected to deliver a speech calling the election at Government Buildings, followed by an official visit to Áras an Uachtaráin to ask President Micheal D Higgins to dissolve the Dáil, and his first campaign canvass.

But that all depends on timing, including a flight back from Eastern Europe.

Now that the Finance Bill has passed through the Dáil and Seanad, bringing the budget measures into effect, the Taoiseach is clear to call the general election.

But his trip to Hungary to meet EU leaders is preventing him from calling the election today, on the day of the final sitting of the 33rd Dáil.

Mr Harris will discuss Donald Trump's US presidential election victory with his European counterparts at meetings in Budapest.

Hungary's prime minister Victor Orban will host European ­leaders as his country currently holds the EU presidency. The meetings hosted by the European leader closest to Trump will be the first opportunity to discuss the implications of the US election result.

This evening Mr Harris will attend a summit of the European Political Community, made up of 44 European leaders, to discuss the Russian invasion of Ukraine and other security issues, against the backdrop of Trump's win.

Mr Harris will have a dinner with EU leaders to discuss the outcome of the US election and the war in the Middle East. The dinner will be the main event of the Budapest summit.

Mr Harris will leave the informal EU summit early tomorrow to return to Ireland at about lunchtime. All going according to plan, he will go from Dublin Airport to Government Buildings to announce his calling of a general election.

The role (if any) of Tánaiste and ­ Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin,and Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman, at that event will be watched closely.

From Merrion Street, Mr Harris will head to Áras an Uachtaráin to meet the President to request the official dissolution of the Dáil.

After those formalities, the Taoiseach will go off on a first canvass, probably in the nearby constituency of Dublin West, which includes the Phoenix Park.

Fine Gael is trying to replace former taoiseach Leo Varadkar with Senator Emer Currie in that constituency.

Mr Harris is then expected to head back across the city to canvass with Fine Gael candidates in Dublin 4 ahead of the rugby match in the Aviva Stadium.

He will head out of Dublin on ­Saturday and Sunday to begin his whistlestop tour of the country on the opening weekend of the campaign.

Housing is set to be the first big ­talking point of the campaign, with a live TV debate on Monday night featuring ­Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien, Public Spending Minister Paschal Donohoe and Sinn Féin housing spokesman Eoin Ó Broin.