‘Powerful bloc’ – Sinn Fein make plea to form left-leaning Irish government

A Sinn Fein TD has said they will continue to speak to like-minded parties in a bid to form a left-leaning government, following last weeks election in Ireland.

Eoin O Broin said that while Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have the numbers to form a government, the deal has not yet been reached.

Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald contacted the Social Democrats and Labour on Monday to discuss options, and Labour leader Ivana Bacik has also spoken to leaders of other parties.

Three long days of counting in the General Election finished late on Monday, when the final two seats were declared in the constituency of Cavan-Monaghan.

Clear winner

Fianna Fail was the clear winner of the election, securing 48 of the Dail parliament’s 174 seats.

Sinn Fein took 39 and Fine Gael 38.

Labour and the Social Democrats both won 11 seats; People Before Profit-Solidarity took three; Aontu secured two; and the Green Party retained only one of its 12 seats. Independents and others accounted for 21 seats.

The return of a Fianna Fail/Fine Gael-led coalition is now highly likely.

However, their combined seat total of 86 leaves them just short of the 88 needed for a majority in the Dail.

A coalition of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, and a third grouping, possibly made up of Independents, is the likely option.

External support

However, Mr O Broin, the party’s housing spokesman, said it is not a “done deal”.

“The numbers are very clear and Fianna Fail and Fine Gael do have the numbers to form a government, albeit with some external support,” he told RTE Morning Ireland.

“However, a deal hasn’t been reached. A week is a long time in politics, and many things can change.

“So given the fact that our view is that a Fianna Fail/Fine Gael coalition is the worst possible option, despite the fact that Micheal Martin seems intent on bringing Fine Gael in as a junior partner, we said we were going to talk to other like-minded, progressive political parties on the other side of the election.

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do, and in the first instance it’s to assess what are the options, what are the possibilities? Micheal Martin clearly has the upper hand. There’s no denying that.”

He added: “We have always said in the first instance what we would do is talk to like-minded parties. That’s what we’re going to do.

“We obviously also have to meet as a parliamentary party. We have to talk to and listen to our new TDs. We’re kind of taking this step by step, and I think that’s the sensible thing for us to do. But let’s also remember, this isn’t just about the numbers.

“If you look at what’s happened on the left side of the political spectrum, Sinn Fein has increased our seats, the Social Democrats and Labour have increased their seats. That’s a powerful bloc of 60 progressive politicians for opposition who campaigned and advocated for change.”

Next steps

A number of parliamentary parties will meet on Wednesday to discuss the their next steps.

Sinn Fein, despite taking 39 seats, lost almost 6% of its vote share.

Mr O Broin said Ms McDonald, who also saw a drop in her vote in Dublin Central, said she is the “right person” to lead the party.

“Mary Lou McDonald, I think, has had a really, really good campaign again. Go back to where we were, 11% in the locals, a very, very difficult period prior to this election.

“I think during the course of the campaign, people saw Mary Lou at her very best,” the Dublin West TD said.

“I think Mary Lou had a really strong campaign. She is one of the key reasons why we’ve turned the ship around and consolidated the vote.”