Tipperary TD Michael Lowry was speaking on Thursday night’s Prime Time and predicted that Mary Lou McDonald could be elected Taoiseach next Thursday when the 33rd Dail in sitting for the first time.
Lowry, who previously supported Fine Gael and Fianna governments in the past, said that McDonald could try and form a government.
Mr Lowry said: “The people are saying that they want Mary Lou and Sinn Féin. So give them the opportunity to see if it is possible to form a Government.
“I believe that it is possible for them to start the initial steps. I think it is possible for her to become Taoiseach next Thursday, which many people would never have predicted but I think that’s possible.”
He went on to say “She then has to go and form a Government and form a policy platform. She has to come back to Dáil Eireann and I think that is where that will come crashing down.”
However Mr Lowry said that although McDonald could be the new Taoiseach, it will be very difficult going forward:
“The political landscape has changed dramatically. And there are a lot of turbulent days ahead. I feel myself that it is quite possible that Mary Lou will become Taoiseach next Thursday.”
He continued: “Then she will be asked to form a Government. I think she will come back with a weak Government with a policy platform that will not get support from anyone outside the left socialist wing of the Dáil. And then I would imagine that after that she would have to go back to the Áras. I can’t speak for the President but I doubt in those circumstances that he would allow for dissolution of the Dáil.
“And the inevitable then would be that the only people that can form a government would be Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael with the support of the Greens or a group of Independents.
“I think that there will be a lot of pandering, talking, toing and froing but ultimately it is going to come back to that,”.
“The warning signs have been given to both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil that they have not performed to the extent that the people expected of them. I do believe that they have the capability and the ability to turn it around.”
He said one way or the other 15 Independent TDs could be pivotal in making up the new government.
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