Micheal Martin to be next Taoiseach in historic deal that will see post rotated
FIANNA Fail leader Micheal Martin is set to become Ireland’s next premier as a deal was struck to form a new coalition government.
The position of Taoiseach will be rotated under the terms of the historic draft programme for government agreed by Mr Martin, current Irish premier and Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan.
Mr Martin is set to occupy the post until December 2022.
The three leaders have finalised the deal to form a coalition government more than four months on from February’s inconclusive general election.
The draft deal, which comes after two months of negotiations between the parties, will now have to be endorsed by their parliamentary teams, before being put to their respective memberships for approval.
It was presented to the parliamentary parties last night, however the outcome of votes among the wider memberships are not expected to be known until the end of next week.
The draft programme for government includes a national recovery plan to focus on repairing the economic damage sustained by the coronavirus pandemic.
It also includes a new unit to be set up in the Taoiseach’s office “to work towards a consensus on a shared island.” This unit will “examine the political, social, economic and cultural considerations underpinning a future in which all traditions are mutually respected.” There is no mention of a united Ireland.
Other pledges include working with the Northern Ireland Executive to deliver key cross-border infrastructure initiatives, such as the A5.
The agreed text says Ireland is at a “defining moment”.
“We face urgent challenges which touch every community,” reads the document. In the space of a few short months our world has turned upside down.
“Lives have been lost and hearts broken, and our lives and livelihoods have been changed utterly. In striving together against something which threatens us all, we have shown we can surprise ourselves — adapting quickly, building new alliances and collaborating in ways we never expected.
“All to realise a common purpose: our common future. Covid-19 has presented the global community with a terrible set of challenges to add to the ongoing climate and biodiversity emergency. In this Programme for Government we are asserting our ambition to meet these challenges, repair the damage that has been inflicted by the pandemic, and take the renewed spirit arising from these challenging times and translate it into action.”
Mr Varadkar confirmed that the position of taoiseach would be rotated and indicated Mr Martin would be the first incumbent.
Fianna Fail won the most seats in the election with 38, to Sinn Fein’s 37 and Fine Gael’s 35. The Greens won 12. Sinn Fein won the popular vote but its efforts to form a left-wing coalition government foundered, as it was unable to secure the requisite 80 seats to secure a majority in the Dail parliament.
Fianna Fail and Fine Gael — parties that have been foes since their formation from opposing sides of Ireland’s Civil War of the 1920s — are now set to enter government together.
The Greens have been persuaded to be the third party in the coalition — thus securing a working majority. Sinn Fein leader Mary-lou Mcdonald criticised the draft programme as an “agreement for more of the same”.