Boyd Barrett appeals to left to unite and offer 'genuine alternative' to FF and FG

Sinn Féin has been called on not to enter government with either of the two big parties and to instead unite in forming a grand coalition on the left.

But the appeal from People Before Profit to Mary Lou McDonald fell on deaf ears, with the Sinn Féin leader arguing that her party must take the step of holding Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil to account by sharing power with either of them.