Former Fine Gael deputy leader Simon Coveney has remarked that it will be quite challenging for the party to rejoin a coalition with Fianna Fáil without a rotating taoiseach in place, reports RTE.
Fianna Fáil is expected to enhance its seat advantage over Fine Gael compared to the 2020 election, during which both parties collaborated under an agreement to share the taoiseach role midway through the term.
Coveney, who ended his political career following the current Dáil term, stated: “There are various ways to interpret the numbers. There are the seats in the Dáil, but also the national percentage vote received by the parties, which is fairly consistent—this is an essential mandate that Fine Gael will bring into any negotiations. I believe it would be quite a tough scenario for Fine Gael to enter another coalition government, especially after experiencing a coalition government where a rotating taoiseach has been effective and maintained stability in governance,” reports RTE.
Speaking with journalists at a count centre in Cork, he expressed that it will ultimately be up to the party leaders and the parliamentary groups involved, but from Fine Gael’s viewpoint, “it would be very challenging for them to contemplate entering government without having a taoiseach for a portion of that administration.”
A coalition with a smaller party would be “more stable” than an alliance with independents, Coveney noted.
He mentioned that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have demonstrated they can work together effectively in government, but he suspects that a third party will likely be necessary, reports RTE.
He clarified that he was sharing his personal views as he is no longer a “decision maker,” but added: “I think a party tends to be more stable than a collection of individuals, although I have previously participated in coalition governments with both.
“And I must say, the coalition with a group of independents functioned quite well—many independents likely to win seats are from a kind of Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil background.”
Discussions have shifted to whether Labour or the Social Democrats might serve as a junior partner in a coalition, reports RTE.
Coveney, who served as foreign affairs minister during the Brexit negotiations between the UK and the EU, believes both the Social Democrats and Labour will perform reasonably well in this election.
“I hope both of these parties will be interested in participating in government, and we will approach the conversation with an open mind and a realistic perspective on how to form a government alongside Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil,” reports RTE.
More broadly, Coveney emphasized that the current results have been “far better” than what was initially anticipated.
He credited party leader Simon Harris for this achievement, but acknowledged that the Taoiseach faced a challenging campaign.
“It’s been a very tough campaign for Simon Harris. Things have gone wrong that he probably couldn’t have anticipated and didn’t expect. I think he’s shown remarkable resilience and toughness, quite frankly, which is what you need as a political leader these days. To actually find a way through that and still ensure that Fine Gael got a good result, growing our representation of the Dáil and bringing in a whole new crop of new TDs,” reports RTE.
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