The time has come for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to stop "play acting and shadow-boxing", acting Tánaiste and Labour leader Joan Burton has said.

Speaking in Rome where she was attending St Patrick’s Day celebrations, Ms Burton said the two main parties should “shape up to what the country requires”, namely the formation of a stable government.

"This is a hiatus moment, the election is over and people are trying to figure out what the significance of the election is. I don't think there is any great appetite for another early general election," she told The Irish Times.

“If you look at the figures, the only set of figures which add up in a coherent way and which would lead to a five year term of government, which the country needs, really is a combination of the two largest parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil...

“This time the baton has passed to the two biggest parties who have to shape up to what the country requires.

“To be honest, I think the arithmetic is leading in only one direction given that there is no hope of a minority government lasting.

“Clearly this is a historic moment when two parties with great historic differences might find themselves coming together but that is the arithmetic of the election result. People need to look at a five year perspective, we’ve made huge progress from the difficult financial situation of 2011 but we still have a road to travel.”

The Tánaiste suggested that current negotiations by both parties with a series of independents are simply “play-acting and shadow boxing” since, in the end, the election result has put the onus on Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to form a government.

She also said that, at the moment, “there are a large number of people in the Dáil for whom the notion of government is anathema” since they prefer to be in opposition.

She believes that “serious” discussions for the formation of a new Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil government will begin next month, after the conclusion of the Easter Rising commemorative celebrations.

The Labour leader also said that the future role of her party would be in opposition.

Asked if she had any regrets about having gone into coalition government with Fine Gael in 2011, given Labour’s electoral melt-down, she said: I think it was the correct thing to do, both for me and for the Labour Party.

“It would have been very easy to stand on the side and say to ourselves, we’ll be the cute people, we’ll stand aside, we won’t seek to address unemployment or issues like investment and growth, we’ll stand aside and bide our time until the next time.

“No, no regrets, I think it was historically necessary... An aspect of the Irish recovery is that it has involved jobs recovery and I think that, in time, people will come to recognise this. In time, too, the Labour Party will recover.”