Cork opposition TDs' call for general election after Taoiseach announces he is to step down  

Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, and People Before Profit -Solidarity TDs in Cork have called for a general election after Leo Varadkar announced that he would step down as Fine Gael leader.

Mr Varadkar said he would stay on as Taoiseach until a successor has been chosen by his party, in a shock announcement outside Government Buildings yesterday.

However, Sinn Féin Cork North Central TD Thomas Gould told The Echo that his party is calling for an election, saying: “It’s the honourable thing to do.”

“The last general election, people voted for change and they didn’t get it,” said Mr Gould.

“The Taoiseach has made his decision and that’s fine, but I don’t think it’s up to Fine Gael members to decide — it has to go to the people.

“It’s the honourable thing to do, there are a lot of people who are really frustrated with the quality of life in our country. The only way to change that is a general election.

“We’ve been talking as a party and as the opposition, right across the board, if there’s going to be a new Taoiseach, there should be a new government, and it should be the people who decide.”

Change

Sinn Féin Cork South-Central TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire echoed those sentiments, saying: “The people of Cork, and the people of Ireland need a change. The next Taoiseach should be chosen by the people, not by Fine Gael members.

“It is clear that Fine Gael and this Government have run out of ideas, and we need a change of government to deliver the change of policy that we need.”

Cork North-Central People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry said: “Leo Varadkar was a good Taoiseach for the upper echelons of the middle class. He was not a good Taoiseach for working people.”

“He was often severely out of touch, as shown recently by his comments on disability in the run-in to the referendum vote.”

Social Democrats leader and Cork South-West TD Holly Cairns said in a statement: “A new Fine Gael leader will not change the fact that the writing is on the wall for this Government.

“The next Taoiseach should be decided by the electorate, not by Fine Gael, a party whose time in government has been marked by record house prices, record rents, and record homelessness.

“We don’t need a continuation of this approach. We do not need a new Fine Gael Taoiseach.

“What this country needs is a new government. We need a general election.”

Shock

While Fianna Fáil Cork North-Central TD Pádraig O’Sullivan told The Echo that Mr Varadkar’s resignation came as a shock to all, “nothing has changed” in terms of electing a new Taoiseach.

“It’s, unfortunately, not up to us,” he said.

“It’s the Dáil who decides on the Taoiseach and when an election is held.

“It doesn’t just work on the basis that a party leader has walked away. I think it’s political opportunism and navel-gazing.”

Fianna Fáil Cork South-West TD Christopher O’Sullivan said: “I’ve heard comments from some opposition politicians saying that everyone wants an election, but honestly, it’s a bit disingenuous to assume that they speak on behalf of everyone in the country.”

On the potential for Tánaiste Micheál Martin to step in following Mr Varadkar’s resignation, Padraig O’Sullivan said: “There’s no chance of that.

“Varadkar has said he will be proposing an alternative candidate.

“Fine Gael now has a period of time to go off and decide who they want to put forward, and from our perspective, the Dáil will then elect a new Taoiseach. There has to be a formal vote, that’s always been the way it is.”

On the same prospect, Christopher O’Sullivan said: “I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t love to see it, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”