Taoiseach in move to cut deals with 22 non-party TDs

Caretaker taoiseach Enda Kenny will try to freeze out Fianna Fáil by cutting deals with 22 opposition TDs and convincing Labour to abstain from the April 6 taoiseach nomination vote.

The Fine Gael leader made the claim during a one-hour meeting of the party’s TDs last night — at the same time as Micheál Martin met with Labour’s Joan Burton in a bid to win support from the outgoing junior coalition partner.

In a detailed presentation to his parliamentary party, which one TD said is as likely to happen as “herding white mice down a winding rural road on a snowy day”, Mr Kenny said the blueprint is a path to victory.