Varadkar signals defeat as Sinn Fein moves to form coalition
Leo Varadkar has signalled his willingness to step down as Irish Taoiseach and go into opposition, as left-wing nationalists Sinn Féin move to form a coalition government following an inconclusive election result at the weekend.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, whose party won the most votes on Saturday, securing 37 seats, said on Monday that she “may well be the next Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister)”.
Varadkar said this morning: “We were defeated in this election, there is no point in trying to dress that up in any way.
“It may have been a tight finish but that means people are saying to us that Fine Gael should go into opposition and we are absolutely willing to do that.”
Prior to the election Fianna Fail, which took 38 seats in total, appeared to rule out forming a government with the party, with party leader Michael Martin saying it was a “moral question”. Since then, Martin’s tone seems to have softened, with the politician stressing only there had to be “compatibility in the political programme of that government”.
Sinn Fein has appointed its Donegal TD Pearse Doherty to lead its negotiating team as coalition talks begin. Doherty is initially seeking meetings with some of the smaller left-wing parties which won seats in the Dáil Éireann (Irish parliament).
Either way it looks likely that weeks of negotiations will be needed to cobble together a majority.
Main image: Getty