Fine Gael’s mandate cannot be taken for granted, Taoiseach warns

Taoiseach Simon Harris has warned that Fine Gael cannot be taken for granted in government formation talks.

The party leader said speculation had prematurely jumped to issues around how ministries might be allocated and whether Fianna Fail and Fine Gael would once again rotate the taoiseach’s role during the mandate.

Mr Harris said he was not concentrating on those issues at present and was instead keeping his focus on what the policy priorities of a new coalition will be.

The Fine Gael leader said he was also open to how his party and Fianna Fail might achieve a Dail majority, whether it was with the support of a smaller party or several independent TDs.

His comments come after the Social Democrats rejected the Labour Party’s offer of forming a left-leaning negotiating bloc as part of government formation talks.

Speaking to reporters after the British Irish Council meeting in Edinburgh on Friday, Mr Harris commented on the discourse since the election result.

“I just think there’s a little bit of an effort to kind of jump to the end of the process, who’s getting what ministry, we’ll rotate this and rotate that – that’s not what it’s about,” he said.

“It’s about getting this right, and it’s about mutual respect. It’s about not taking anybody’s mandate for granted. And it’s also about recognising that there are other parties in the Dail and other independents in the Dail that if they wish to come into government, and if they wish to engage, they need to be engaged with respectfully as well.”

M Harris said it would be “very, very difficult” for a government to be formed without Fine Gael’s participation.

“I wouldn’t take my party for granted,” he said.

“And I think fewer public musings and more concrete engagement is a way to proceed.”

The Taoiseach said there was too much presumption about how the talks around government formation would conclude. He also insisted that “parity of a esteem” had always been an important concept when putting together coalitions.

“This is about getting this right,” he said.

“It’s about making sure that we hear what the people of Ireland said in terms of the policy areas that they highlighted in the ballot box last week and the respective mandates that they gave to different parties, and I look forward to those formal discussions beginning next week.”

Earlier this week, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said the next Irish government had to reflect the “very significant” number of seats his party won in the election.

Fianna Fail was the clear winner of last Friday’s poll, securing 48 of the Dail Parliament’s 174 seats, while Sinn Fein took 39 and Fine Gael won 38.

When Fianna Fail and Fine Gael entered coalition for the first time after the last general election in 2020, there was only a three-seat difference in their relative strength.

That resulted in an equal partnership at the head of the coalition, with the Green Party as the junior partner. The two main parties swapped the role of Taoiseach half-way through the term.

With Fianna Fail’s lead over Fine Gael having grown to 10 seats following this election, focus has turned to the future of the rotating taoiseach arrangement and whether it will operate again in the next mandate and, if so, on what basis.

There are similar questions around the distribution of ministries and other roles.

While Tanaiste Mr Martin has so far refused to be drawn on the specifics, on Wednesday he did suggest that he expected Fianna Fail’s greater strength of numbers to be reflected in the new administration.

Labour and the Social Democrats held talks about the post-election landscape at Leinster House in Dublin on Friday.

The Labour Party had called for a centre-left platform to engage with the larger parties as part of talks to form a government.

However, Social Democrats deputy leader Cian O’Callaghan said they would be going it alone and plan to meet with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael next week.

The two larger parties, with a combined 86 seats, are just short of the 88 required for a majority.

If they wish to return to government together, they would need one smaller party as a junior partner or a handful of independents.

Mr O’Callaghan said that his party entering government formation talks is based on its dealbreakers and not on who the party is speaking to.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the party is committed to creating a “centre-left bloc” of parties.

Speaking outside Leinster House on Friday, Mr O’Callaghan said: “It was a productive meeting.

“We outlined the key areas for us in terms of our dealbreakers that we ran during the campaign in housing, healthcare and childcare, and disability services and climate action.

“We are hoping to meet with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael next week.”

Asked if the centre-left bloc has emerged from the talks with Labour, he said: “No, we were clear throughout the election campaign that we are running on our own two feet.

“For us to enter government, it is contingent on us getting an agreement on our dealbreakers, it’s not contingent on what other parties are doing on government formation.

“Whether other parties are not going into government is for them to decide.

“We have been clear all along that our participation in government will be based on dealbreakers.”

Speaking after the meeting, Ms Bacik said: “It was a commitment I have given throughout the course of the election campaign, was that the first people we would engage with, the first parties we would engage with after the election would be those parties who share our vision and our values, our social democratic vision for change, for an active state.

“We have met now with the Green Party and the Social Democrats today.

“We had a very constructive and cordial meeting with Cian, Jennifer (Whitmore) and Gary (Gannon).

“We discussed policy priorities, we discussed potential for co-operation and I look forward to continued collaboration.

“We’re very serious about building a common platform on the centre left.

“I’ve always said throughout the campaign, we’re a party that’s not content to sit on the sidelines.

“We are very serious about delivering change with the communities we represent and that we feel honoured to serve.”

Substantive government formation talks between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are due to take place next week.

Mr Harris and Fianna Fail leader Mr Martin both attended the British-Irish Council meeting in Edinburgh on Friday.

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill, who also participated in the summit, criticised Mr Martin for “ignoring” Sinn Fein’s mandate after the General Election.

Mr Martin has repeatedly said he will not go into government with Sinn Fein, saying his party has made a policy decision not to enter coalition with them.

Speaking to reporters in Scotland, Sinn Fein vice president Ms O’Neill acknowledged that Mr Martin will decide who he goes into government with.

“That’s clear. But I do think that it’s completely disrespectful to ignore the fact that Sinn Fein are the second largest party in the Dail, having returned 39 TDs,” she said.

“I think it’s disrespectful of him to ignore the fact that we have such a significant mandate for change.

“I think also the thing that’s not lost to me is the irony of Micheal Martin’s approach – the fact that this is a man who comes to Belfast regularly and talks about partnership and inclusivity and coalition and respect and parity of esteem, but that does not apply to our party.

“So I think that irony will not be lost on the voters either.”