The Dáil will resume with Micheál Martin returning as taoiseach

The Irish parliament will resume on Wednesday and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin will return as taoiseach for the second time.

In the 35th Dáil (Irish parliament) Martin will be elected taoiseach (prime minister), replacing Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, who will return as tánaiste (deputy prime minister).

Fianna Fáil – the largest party – has formed a government with Fine Gael and a number of independent regional MPs (TDs) after november elections.

Sinn Féin remains the largest opposition party after winning 39 seats. Fianna Fáil won 48 seats, while Fine Gael came third with 38 seats.

Messrs. Martin and Harris confirmed the new draft government program. earlier this month.

The agreement paved the way for the next government and was successfully endorsed by both parties in recent days.

Speaking after his party backed the government programme, Martin said there was a “strong commitment” from his party to deliver for the Irish people.

“I can assure you that we will spare no effort to work selflessly on behalf of the people of Ireland to implement this Government programme, make things better for people and improve quality of life as we navigate very turbulent global waters.” said.

Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ruled out Sinn Féin as a coalition partner, which party leader Mary Lou McDonald called “bad practices”.

This is the first time the new government will meet after the November election, and government negotiations will take around five weeks to complete.

The new Dáil has already been a source of controversy after several independent TDs, including Michael Lowry, Danny Healy-Rae, Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole, who support the government, wanted to sit down and speak from the opposition benches.

New Ceann Comhairle (carrier), also a regional independent, Verona Murphy, who is the first woman to hold the position, told TDs she would consider submissions opposing the plan, but allowed the group to “provisionally” take their original seats. for now. .

All other opposition groups are against the idea, calling it having a foot in both sides and taking time away from those who wish to scrutinize the government.

As part of Wednesday’s Dáil return, Martin will travel to Áras an Uachtaráin at around 1:00 p.m. local time to meet Irish President Michael D. Higgins in the State Reception Room.

The President will then sign the order of appointment and present the taoiseach’s seal and the government seal to Mr Harris.

Later, around 8:00 p.m., the appointment of the members of the Government will begin.

The president will sign the order appointing members of the government and the order appointing the attorney general, each of which will be countersigned by the taoiseach.

Then, the president will give each minister in turn his seal of office.