Independents ‘more interested’ in government talks than smaller parties, TD says

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Independents appear to be “more interested at this stage” in government formation talks with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil than Labour and the Social Democrats, a TD has said.

Exploratory talks between political parties have been held this week with the aim of forming a government in the new year.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, who are just a couple of seats short of a majority of 88, said they had a “positive and constructive” initial discussion with one another on Wednesday.

The Social Democrats said they would continue to engage with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil next week, as well as Sinn Féin and the Labour Party.

Labour’s parliamentary party is meeting on Friday to discuss their stance on government formation.

Fianna Fáil TD for Clare Timmy Dooley said that “it remains to be decided” how stable a coalition that included independents would be.

“There’s nobody putting pressure on anybody, there’s still time for those other parties such as Labour and the Social Democrats to decide do they want to participate and do they want to enter more formal discussions and negotiations. The independents from the start appeared to be quite interested,” he said on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne programme.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said he had met each of the eight independent TDs in the Regional Group and did not doubt their “sincerity or bona fides”.

The Fine Gael leader said it would be “absolutely essential” that the next government has a “whipped majority” in order to pass five budgets and any confidence votes.

He said the fact that a group had been set up and a point of contact for government talks appointed was a sign of “a group of independent TDs who are serious about doing business in terms of being a constructive force in government”.

“But absolutely there will be a moment of truth, a crunch moment where every individual TD, including in Fine Gael, will have to sign up and commit to delivering the programme for government and voting with the government,” he said.

“It will be for us to work through that process for how best that structure is in place.”

He added: “We have seen in the past how it is possible to work with independents in government and work successfully with them in government.”

He said that key to this would be getting the structure of government right, such as the leaders meeting on Monday night in the last coalition, which he said had prevented “public disagreements and clashes on policy”.

The new Dáil parliament of 174 TDs is to sit for the first time next Wednesday.

Elsewhere on Friday, Sinn Féin said it had nominated Aengus O Snodaigh to become the next Ceann Comhairle.

Mary Lou McDonald said Mr O Snodagh was an “outstanding parliamentarian”, noting his proficiency with the Irish language and more than 22 years of experience in the Dáil.

“Aengus has a sharp intellect and has a first-rate understanding of parliamentary process and procedures. He is highly respected right across the Oireachtas community”

The others include incumbent Sean O Fearghail, his Fianna Fáil colleague John McGuinness and the Regional Group’s Verona Murphy.