Election Crisis: Crunch time for Leo Varadkar

Leo Varadkar has left open the possibility of accepting the resignation of his Tánaiste, Frances Fitzgerald, to avoid the country going through a bitter Christmas general election.

However, Fine Gael’s election war council met last night, a sign that Mr Varadkar may not back down. While Mr Varadkar does not want a political ‘execution’ of Ms Fitzgerald, his hopes of parking the Maurice McCabe email saga until the New Year are unlikely to be accepted by Fianna Fáil. Instead, pressure is now likely to increase on the Tánaiste to step aside this weekend even as emergency preparations get underway for a snap election that much of the country does not want.

Mr Varadkar confirmed that if Fianna Fáil goes ahead with its motion of no confidence against Ms Fitzgerald on Tuesday, there will be a general election. Ruling out “rushing to the Park” on the weekend to dissolve the Dáil, he said his preference, if needs be, was for a quick pre-Christmas vote.