The election result will have to be reflected in the composition of the next government, according to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, who rejected suggestions Fine Gael would be a “junior” partner in any coalition formed with his party.
Asked if he would be the first taoiseach in the next government, he said his party had secured a “very significant” number of seats. Fianna Fáil emerged from last Friday’s general election 48 seats, with Sinn Féin and Fine Gael taking 39 and 38 respectively.
“That has to be reflected, ultimately, in the configuration and the composition of the policy and structure of the government,” Mr Martin said.
He added that his party will have to “work with others” given there would be a “very fragmented” situation in the Dáil.
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Sinn Féin has regularly referred since the weekend to the prospect of Fine Gael being a junior part of any government formed with Fianna Fáil, a notion Mr Martin criticised as “desperation politics”.
He accused Sinn Féin of “endeavouring to undermine any prospective coalition government”, saying he “would have no truck with that kind of language or approach”.
[ Who are the Independent TDs and what price their support in a coalition?Opens in new window ]
Mr Martin said initial meetings had taken place with Independent TDs because they “clearly potentially have a role here”, but that it was very early days. “I wanted to sound out their perspective now in terms of their potential to engage with us, in terms of the formation of a government,” he said.
He said the core of the upcoming negotiations would be the programme for government, but there would be “another strand” on the functioning of government, including the potential rotation of the taoiseach’s position.
He said there had been “initial contact” with Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and that the pair would soon travel to Edinburgh for a meeting of the British-Irish Council, as Taoiseach and Tánaiste.
Asked about Mr Martin’s comments later in the afternoon, Mr Harris said he would not be negotiating in front of microphones but “with parties on the basis of mutual respect”.
“The exact construct of the government is a matter for another day,” he said, adding that Fine Gael would have a “pivotal role” in the formation of an administration that could deliver five budgets.
Mr Harris said he was “very open” to engaging with independent TDs, and that many voters had sought a government involving Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
He said he had an “open mind” on the composition of the next government but it was important that “we move at pace” to put a strong and stable coalition together. “I do think there’s a pathway forward to try and respond to what people said in the general election and form a stable government.”
He said he would ask his party for a mandate to begin negotiations at what was a “time of renewal” for Fine Gael.
Minister for Finance Jack Chambers has been appointed to lead the Fianna Fáil negotiating team as parties begin the process of forming the next government, while Minister for Justice Helen McEntee will lead the Fine Gael team. Both are deputy leaders of their respective parties.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald appealed to Labour, the Social Democrats and Independent TDs not to do a coalition deal with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Speaking at a press conference as her party’s 39 TDs met in Leinster House for the first time since the election, she said “another five years of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil is not what this country needs”.
“So not alone would I urge the Labour Party and the Soc Dems, but any independent worthy of the name independent, not to go there. We don’t need five more years of what we have witnessed,” she said.
Ms McDonald said “continuing chaos” in housing and the health service would be “intolerable”.
She said it was “bad practice” for Mr Martin to rule Sinn Féin out as a potential government partner “given the scale of the mandate that we have”. She expected she would call Mr Martin “at some stage”, but she believed Fianna Fáil was “shaping up themselves with Fine Gael as a junior party” to put together a government.
She said her first “port-of-call” would be to talk to parties “of a similar mind to us”. Sinn Féin is to meet the Social Democrats and Labour in the coming days. “We remain committed to a government off the left,” she added.
Ms McDonald said she would lead Sinn Féin through the next Dáil and into the next general election and denied the election result was a setback for the goal of Irish unity. “It’s still very much game on.”
Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill said Sinn Féin had returned its “largest ever team” in the Dáil.
“I think that speaks volumes in terms of our project and what we want to achieve,” she added.
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