‘Country needs a Government’
FIANNA Fáil TD Marc MacSharry is of the hope that an administration will be formed in the near future. The Sligo-Leitrim TD acknowledges that while the coming together of the two traditional rivals is something that many party members will have difficulty with, there also needs to be an understanding of the reality of the current environment.
Reports yesterday (Monday) suggested that the two major parties were in discussions with Independent groupings with a view to forming part of a new government, while smaller parties such as the Greens, the Social Democrats and Labour have also been approached. “As I understand it the leaders and deputy leaders of each party are liaising with those (Independent) groups, and hopefully that can proceed quickly and there’ ll be some kind of a government in place because obviously its needed.” Deputy MacSharry told The Sligo Champion.
“They all seem to be engaging with it, I see the Greens are meeting today (Monday) to discuss it, I think the deputy leader (of Fianna Fáil) and the deputy leader of Fine Gael are meeting with some of the Independent groupings to try and get a sense, so hopefully a week or ten days will tell us a lot and we’ ll have a government in that period. The sooner we have a government the better so that parliament can get on with doing its work and fighting this Covid crisis and putting a plan together for economic recovery because obviously it’s very scary.” A coalition between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would represent a major milestone in Irish politics, with the long-time rivals forming an administration that is likely to involve a rotating Taoiseach. Deputy MacSharry argues that while such a coalition is not the ideal scenario for many, it is necessary in the face of the current crisis. “Naturally, we’re way beyond personal preferences or preference that I or party members would have or indeed politically palatable outcomes,” he said.
“Needs must so anybody who is a member of Fianna Fáil or I’m sure anyone who is a member of Fine Gael, this isn’t where they’d like to be at all.
“The arithmetic has dictated the outcome substantially and I know it won’t be everybody’s personal choice and very few people may be happy about the make-up and particularly those that are active members of parties, but the one thing we need is to get Covid put to bed and a proper economic plan to restore proper commerce and get people back to work and school and so on.”
Deputy MacSharry concluded: “While current circumstances are very far from preferable, we have to embrace the realpolitik of the situation where the country needs a government, Fianna Fáil have the largest number of seats and they need to step up, but obviously it’s well beyond personal preferences,” he added.