Fine Gael confirm support for Labour's motion of no confidence

Fine Gael has said it will support the Labour Party's motion of no confidence in the Government next week.

Deputy Alan Shatter said the party would vote with Labour on the motion, and added that the days of the Fianna Fáil-Green Party coalition were numbered.

"I think it is in the national interest that the Finance Bill be passed…and that this Government is replaced at the earliest possible opportunity," he said.

Meanwhile, a number of high-profile backbench TDs, including former ministers, have openly signalled their appetite for a fresh heave against Mr Cowen in the wake of the political turmoil.

Former defence minister Willie O’Dea, ex-trade minister John McGuinness and veteran Fianna Fáil TD Mary O’Rourke have all suggested the party leadership be put back on the table.

Mr O’Dea said other TDs who supported Mr Cowen in the confidence vote earlier in the week had changed their minds since the bungled Cabinet reshuffle.

“Now it is really up to them. If they want to make a move, I’ll support that,” he told RTE. “It is up to them to reverse the situation that they created by voting – in my view, the wrong way – on Tuesday night.”

Mr O’Dea said the public viewed Mr Cowen’s failed attempt to parachute several Fianna Fáil figures into high-profile ministerial posts weeks before an election as a “grubby stroke”.

Under party rules, 18 signatures are needed to table a motion of no confidence in the leader.

Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said he was pushing ahead with a motion of no confidence in the Government next week.

“The events of this week put beyond doubt that this is a dysfunctional Government led by a Taoiseach who has lost all sense of judgment and all touch with reality,” he said.

“The level of bitterness between the two parties in government, with accusations of duplicity and lying flying across the airwaves, hardly suggests a cohesive Cabinet capable of dealing with any issue over the coming weeks.”

Junior minister Conor Lenihan compared the last few days of unprecedented political turmoil and senior Ministers' resignations with a car crash.

He claimed the Taoiseach was aware last Saturday – as he consulted with Fianna Fáil TDs over whether to remain party leader – that the Greens did not want new Cabinet ministers parachuted into empty portfolios.

Mr Lenihan said: “I think everybody was shell-shocked, not just me. All of my colleagues were wandering around the House in a state of shock.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that it was akin to, and the atmosphere was akin to, somebody who had been through a car crash – the trauma that people experience after an incident of that kind.”

Cowen must go: Lenihan

Mr Lenihan told RTE Radio that backbenchers were offered Cabinet jobs for supporting the Taoiseach in the failed leadership challenge.

He said the Greens were not to blame for the shambolic reshuffle attempt and repeated his call for the Taoiseach to stand down.

“We do need to take responsibility and accountability for unfortunate situations that we create ourselves and that’s why I’m asking Brian Cowen to resign,” he said.

Mr Lenihan added: "We have a responsibility as a country, but also, separately and less importantly than that, a reputation as a party for competent government and you can't engage in that in a reckless manner by wilfully ignoring the wishes and indications of our coalition partners.

“It’s not the way to run a business, it’s not the way to run an organisation and it’s not the way to run a country.”

Cowen's credibility gone, says Lenihan

Mr Lenihan said credibility in Mr Cowen had evaporated.

“I have concerns for the country. The instability that’s been introduced in the last 24 hours and purely from a party political level... we are a party facing implosion,” he said.

“We are a party that could quite easily disappear from the landscape in the context of the next General Election.”

New Cabinet would be seen as 'jobbery': Gormley

Green Party leader John Gormley said the Taoiseach was misguided as he planned to install a new Cabinet.

“Everyone was quite astounded by what had occurred,” he said. “I have said it was misguided. Maybe he was under some sort of misapprehension.”

Mr Gormley added; “It may not be the Taoiseach, there may be others of the view that this was a smart thing to do. I just can’t comprehend how anyone would see that.

“We in the Green Party knew immediately that this was a very bad idea. It would be seen as jobbery. It would be seen as a political stroke and it should not be done. We made that clear.”

Later, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore confirmed they would move a motion of no confidence in the Taoiseach on Tuesday.

“The events of this week put beyond doubt that this is a dysfunctional government led by a Taoiseach who has lost all sense of judgment and all touch with reality,” Mr Gilmore said.

“The level of bitterness between the two parties in government, with accusations of duplicity and lying flying across the airwaves, hardly suggests a cohesive cabinet capable of dealing with any issue over the coming weeks.

“The longer this broken and politically dishevelled government clings to power the longer the process of national recovery will be postponed.”