Fine Gael will only go into Government with Fianna Fáil if a third party is also involved, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
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The Greens have proposed all parties work together during the virus crisis. This would ensure legislative scrutiny and remove the need for an opposition, says former party leader John Gormley
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are still deciding on who shall be the leader of the next government.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil negotiating teams are meeting to discuss policies for a possible programme for government.
A former Green Party leader says government with Fianna Fail and Fine Gael is unlikely to get even a working majority within the current Green membership.
The Greens and the Social Democrats say that the two traditional parties attempts to brief against them in the media will not help government formation.
A government could be formed within the next two weeks, according to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.
A Green Party TD says those encouraging her party to join in government formation are asking them to facilitate a power-grab from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
Tanaiste Simon Coveney has called for a stable coalition to be formed among political parties to fight Covid-19, insisting that “Ireland needs you”.
The Taoiseach has offered a stark warning that the next government will only suffer “disappointment and defeat”.
The Regional Group of Independents, the Labour Party and the Social Democrats are all to be courted by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in a bid to form a government now that the Green Party have chosen to absent themselves.
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have agreed to develop a programme for government for a “stable” coalition that will help the country recover after the Covid-19 crisis.
It has been revealed no new laws can be passed from next week because approval of both the Dáil and Seanad is needed.
The parliament looks set to be left in limbo without the formation of a new government or agreement on who should be Taoiseach.
Green Party TDs have firmly ruled out any government formation talks with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as the Covid-19 crisis continues, insisting a unity or national government is required.
The election of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle could create another obstacle for the state, as the country remains without a mandated government.
The Fianna Fáil leader says that a government needs to be put together over the next number of weeks.
Government formation talks between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will resume tomorrow, with both parties under growing pressure to secure a deal on a workable coalition to face the Covid-19 crisis.
Detailed policy papers are to be exchanged this week between Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin in a bid to kickstart Government formation talks.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil believe the need for emergency laws and a crisis budget to respond to Covid-19 must be assured by a coalition deal and a new government.
Government formation talks between the major parties will continue despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Gary Gannon says Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and The Greens should get on with forming a government.
As Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil negotiators met again yesterday to resume policy discussions, the Green Party continues to insist that what is most urgently needed is a Government of national unity to deal with the Coronavirus crisis.
But it is still unclear when a new government may be formed as the country grapples with the coronavirus.
The pandemic demands that Government has the legitimacy to make hard, possibly divisive decisions.
The Greens have again called for government formation talks to be suspended so a cross-party unified approach is mounted to fight the coronavirus.
Government formation talks will resume later this week with the picture clouded further due to the coronavirus.
Several Green Party TDs have rejected weekend reports that they are on the verge of walking away from government formation talks.
Speaking on Sunday, Mr Martin said the Coronavirus crisis expedites the need for a change of government given the scale of the decisions that need to be taken.
A new opinion poll show that Sinn Féin’s support is holding strong, with the party still comfortably the most popular in Ireland.
Politics, just like nature, abhors a vacuum. The power void left by February’s general election has been instantly filled by the looming horror and scale of the coronavirus health crisis.
Fine Gael is still keen to bring the Greens into a new coalition – despite its TDs differing on whether government negotiations should be halted or not due to the coronavirus.
Government formation talks have been suspended but parties will resume efforts to form a new coalition next week while leaders cooperate in the battle to stop coronavirus from spreading.
Negotiating teams from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil will meet today to begin detailed talks on government formation.
There are times when it takes one plague to overcome another. That may be overstating matters, in the grander scheme of things, but it holds true, at least, for the formation of a government here
Fianna Fáil must secure a “radical” programme for government in any deal with Fine Gael that not only fights the coronavirus but offers new ways of tackling housing and health, a senior party figure says.
Senior Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil negotiators are holding further talks this afternoon on forming a government.
Both parties have agreed to hold detailed negotiations, while still continuing discussions with the Green Party.
All changed, changed utterly. These are defining words from another era that described the explosion of violence on the streets around the Easter Rising. But the poetry of WB Yeats poignantly now illustrates a terrible horror rising over our country and planet: Covid-19.
A statement revealed that the leaders held “constructive discussions over the last two days about a series of policy issues and the current political situation.
The prospects of Micheál Martin being the first Fianna Fáil leader not to be taoiseach are increasing, writes Political Correspondent Aoife Moore
Like a person who at an all-is-possible drinks party promised to take a Christmas Day plunge in the sea when they find themselves shivering on a beach, freezing waves washing their ankles, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil can hardly defer what now seems unavoidable for much longer.
“It’s all about housing,” says Padraig O’ Sullivan, who retained his seat in Cork north central last month.
Several hundred people have taken part in a protest in Dublin to “kick” Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael out while calling for a left-wing government.
Four weeks ago today, the people went to the polls and give their verdict as to who deserves the right to govern the country.
Protesters will take to the streets of Dublin city today demanding to oppose a government involving Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael.
The Green Party want its leader to share the position of Taoiseach if they form a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and acting Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are expected to discuss the ongoing stalemate in government formation when talks resume next week.
A march against Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael forming the next government is being planned this weekend.
Fine Gael leader, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, is prepared to “let Micheál Martin sweat” and did not seek a mandate to continue talks with Fianna Fáil from his party.
