Mary Lou McDonald 'expects' to make call to Micheál Martin to discuss government formation

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald has said she expects she will contact Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin at some stage to discuss government formation.

This is despite Mr Martin consistently saying his party will not go into government with Sinn Féin.

He is on track to be Taoiseach as Fianna Fáil will be the largest party in the State with 48 TDs. This is followed by Sinn Féin on 39 TDs and Fine Gael on 38.

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Speaking to reporters outside Leinster House ahead of a Sinn Féin parliamentary party meeting, Ms McDonald said she accepted that the numbers were on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s side when it came to government formation.

When asked by the Irish Mirror if she believed Mr Martin should reconsider speaking to Sinn Féin, Ms McDonald said she expected to put a call into the Tánaiste at some stage.

"You've heard me say all along that I think it is bad practice for Micheál Martin to completely disregard Sinn Fein, given the scale of the mandate that we have," she said.

"I think that's wrong. It’s no skin off any of our noses, I can assure you.

"But for the hundreds of thousands of people who vote for this party, who support this party, who want this party to get to work for them and to make a change in their lives, Micheál Martin's position lands very, very badly with all of those people and he should be aware of that. My first port of call is to talk to parties with a similar mind to us.

"Then I do expect at some stage that I will put a call to Micheál Martin. I will want to talk to him.

"I believe that they are shaping up themselves with Fine Gael as a junior party to put together that government. But I also believe that you respect the democratic outcome of elections.

"We want a government of change. We remain committed to a government of the left. That's our job and our work, but I reject Micheál Martin's position that he can simply disregard and disrespect the votes of hundreds of thousands of people."

When Ms McDonald was questioned on whether her party would be willing to be a "junior partner" in government, she said the position remains that the wish "would be a government that is led by an alternative, by Sinn Fein".

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