Taoiseach Enda Kenny will host a round-table discussion in Government Buildings on Wednesday on the formation of a new government with Independents and smaller parties.
It follows the announcement by a group of five rural Independents of their willingness to intensify discussions with Fine Gael with a view to forming a government.
They will meet Mr Kenny on Wednesday to discuss a potential programme for government and will join the Independent Alliance, a number of unaligned Independents and the Green Party.
However, the Social Democrats party has declined to participate in the process.
The move into formal talks with a number of groupings has put Fine Gael in the driving seat in the process to form the next government.
The party is hoping it will be possible to reach an early agreement on the priorities in a programme for government, although it is regarded as unlikely to have reached final conclusions by the time the Dáil next meets to elect a Taoiseach on April 6th.
Logjam
In the first real break in the political logjam since the election, five Independent TDs, Michael Collins, Noel Grealish, Michael Harty, Mattie McGrath and Denis Naughten, announced they would intensify discussions with Fine Gael with a view to trying to form a government in the national interest.
“Following the discussions over the last 12 days with both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, we believe that Fine Gael is seriously determined to form a government and as the party is in the driving seat – with eight extra Dáil votes – we are now prepared to sit down and actively engage on a programme for government,” said the TDs.
The TDs said they were firmly of the belief that no agreement could be achieved without the co-operation of Fianna Fáil, and they would continue to insist that any programme will be a “Political Partnership Agreement” which would be a partnership agreement involving all constructive TDs.
“We are not making any determination on who we will support for the office of An Taoiseach at this stage, but we believe that the current political stand-off by all parties is not in the best interest of this country, of those who are homeless, those who are on trolleys, those who are unemployed or struggling to meet day-to-day bills and the issues that affect rural Ireland.
Face-to-face meeting
“As a result of our decision, we have now sought an early face-to-face meeting with Enda Kenny with a view to initiating talks on a political partnership agreement,” said the statement.
However, the six TDs who form the Independent Alliance do not appear to be as united on their strategy. It is understood that John Halligan and Shane Ross are leaning towards not entering coalition with Fine Gael, but their views are not shared by all members of the group.
Other members in the Independent Alliance, including Michael Fitzmaurice and Kevin “Boxer” Moran, are said to be eager to enter Government and do not have a problem with Fine Gael if the terms are right.
Less forthright
The two other members, Finian McGrath and Sean Canny, are also willing to discuss coalition but are less forthright than Mr Fitzmaurice and Mr Moran.
The Alliance met with Fianna Fáil representatives yesterday but it is understood the TDs felt the party was not serious about entering Government.
One TD said Fine Gael was “doing the running” and “Fianna Fáil was waiting for it to happen for them”.
The Alliance is attempting to contain the strains over its strategy but they may be exposed at the round table meeting tomorrow.
