Micheál Martin ‘tried to avoid Fine Gael-Labour return’

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has claimed that he “made every effort” to prevent a Fine Gael-Labour government and that it is not his job to “dictate” whether the outgoing coalition should be returned.

Speaking at a Fianna Fáil 1916 commemoration at Dublin’s Arbour Hill cemetery amid speculation that Enda Kenny’s party is to attempt to convince Labour to re-enter power, Mr Martin said he cannot decide the composition of any Fine Gael-led minority government.

The potential plan to return the outgoing coalition despite it losing 56 seats is deeply divisive among Labour’s wider membership, with former TD Michael McNamara saying yesterday that such a move would see the public given “one of the greatest snubs in Irish history”.