Ireland finally has a new leader after Micheal Martin was voted to replace Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach.
It follows months of negotiations after voters went to the polls back in February.
Mr Martin's Fianna Fáil party won the most seats, but not enough to form a government on its own.
Last night Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party agreed to go into a historic coalition together after members from all three parties approved the deal.
Mr Martin said as his election as Taoiseach was confirmed today: "We are meeting away from our permanent chamber because of a historic pandemic which has struck Ireland and the rest of the world.
"As of today, 2,278 people on this island have lost their lives.
"Many thousands more have fought a long struggle to recover. There is no community, no part of our country, which has escaped untouched.
"In the last three-and-a-half months, enormous progress has been made in controlling the spread of the virus and treating those who have become sick.
"The struggle against the virus is not over. We must continue to contain its spread. We must be ready to tackle any new wave, and we must move forward rapidly to secure a recovery to benefit all of our people."
Mr Varadkar said: "I believe Civil War politics ended a long time ago in our country, but today Civil War politics ends in our parliament.
"Two great parties coming together with another great party, the Green Party, to offer what this country needs, a stable government for the betterment of our country and for the betterment of our world.
"I look forward to the privilege of serving in government with those two parties, as does my party."
Sean O Fearghail, who chairs Ireland's Dail, said today it has "taken us a long time to get here".
"We know that we must continue to protect our people, to promote the societal developments that have emerged from the pandemic crisis and once again, rebuild our damaged economy," he said.
"We must act to affect the change which the country needs and to conserve that which requires preservation.
"Together I firmly believe we are up to the challenge."
Speaking after it was confirmed the two thirds threshold had been reached, Green Party leader, Eamon Ryan, said: “There is a sense of responsibility on us now because we do have a job to do.”
He added: “I believe we can work with our coalition partners, and the parties in opposition in the Dáil, to work together collectively to sell our country on this new future, one that’s sustainable in every way, socially, economically and environmentally."
