Leading Irish political party Fianna Fail is “looking down its nose” at the second biggest party and the 400,000 who voted for them, the Sinn Fein president has said.
Mary-Lou McDonald’s party finished second in the recent general election with 39 seats in the Irish Parliament behind Fianna Fail with 48, but ahead of Fine Gael with 38.
None of the parties secured the 88 required to form a government by themselves, with Fianna Fail leader Tanaiste Micheal Martin set to take part in talks with other parties this week.
These meetings are expected to include Fine Gael, Labour, Social Democrats and a group of eight independents.
Mr Martin has previously indicated he did not plan to go into government with Sinn Fein
The Irish Parliament is set to meet on December 18, however, it is unclear if political talks will have agreed a new coalition government by then.
Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party formed the last coalition government.
Ms McDonald told RTE Radio’s This Week programme that she regrets her party did not secure enough seats to form a government.
“Fianna Fail clearly has the numerical advantage. Fianna Fail clearly has eyes only for Fine Gael. They have decided, it seems, that another five years of Fine Gael is what they wish to see. I think that’s a really bad outcome from this election, but the ball is at their feet,” she said.
I think the least that he can do is show a level of respect to the Sinn Fein electorate
“They’re talking to independents, they’ve talked to others. Interestingly, the only group that they’ve steadfastly refused to speak to is the second largest party in the Dail, and I really think for Micheal Martin to look down his nose at over 400,000 people who voted for Sinn Fein and to disregard those votes en masse is really a bad look.”
Ms McDonald said she has already met with the Social Democrats and hopes to meet with Labour in the next week, adding that she also hopes to have the chance to meet with others, including Mr Martin.
“I think the least that he can do is show a level of respect to the Sinn Fein electorate,” she added.
Speaking on the same programme, Fianna Fail TD Jim O’Callaghan said his party’s position is “very clear” and denied any disrespect to Sinn Fein voters.
“The position is very clear. Before the election, it was announced by Fianna Fail that we wouldn’t go into government with Sinn Fein, and I think it would be very cynical now if after the election we decided to do a U-turn on that,” he said.
“And also I think we need to recognise that before the election, Mary-Lou and Sinn Fein were very definitive about how the country, they said, needed to see the back of Fianna Fail so I think we need to respect what we said to the electorate before the vote and be consistent with it after the vote.”
Mr O’Callaghan said the process of reaching a new coalition government was at an early stage, but it was his own view that there is a “reliable cohort of independents who recognise there are national issues that need to be addressed”.
“I think there is a possibility that we could have stability within a Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and group of independents government,” he added.
He also said that no deadline has been set to agree a new government coalition, but given the “unpredictability of the world” a new Irish government should be in place before January 20 when Donald Trump is due to start his second term as US president.
Earlier Mary Butler, Fianna Fail TD and minister of state for mental health and older people, told RTE’s The Week In Politics programme she is hoping for a “strong, stable and secure government”, adding she will be “quite happy to work with my Fine Gael colleagues again”.
She said: “I’ve worked with them for the last four and a half years and we worked very, very well together, we delivered the majority of our programme for government.”
Martin Heydon, a Fine Gael TD and minister of state at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, reiterated Fine Gael leader Simon Harris’s position that the party “can’t be taken for granted” in terms of its manifesto pledges.
He said the work done now on agreeing policies between parties will be the “bedrock for how successful the next government will be”.
He added: “That’s what matters to Fine Gael, that’s our clear focus.”
He said Mr Harris is set to meet with the eight independent TDs and Labour leader on Monday.
“I’m sure he’ll talk to Fianna Fail later in the week as well,” Mr Heydon added. “There was some informal discussion there last week, briefly between himself and the Tanaiste.”
He also reiterated that his party does not intend to form a government with Sinn Fein.
Meanwhile, Michael Collins of Independent Ireland said the group he has joined, with the two Healy-Rae brothers and Paul Gogarty, have not received a call from anyone yet.
He said if they do not form part of a new coalition government, they will instead be a strong opposition.
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 halfway through the term.
With Fianna Fail’s lead over Fine Gael having grown to 10 seats following this election, the 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 about the distribution of ministries and other roles.
While Mr Martin has so far refused to be drawn on the specifics, on Wednesday he did suggest he expects 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.
