Varadkar will not talk to Sinn Féin about forming a coalition

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he will not be speaking to Sinn Fein with a view to forming a coalition after the election.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has again ruled out any kind of a coalition with Sinn Féin, saying you can’t force a coalition any more than you can force a marriage.

Speaking at the count centre in Dublin West, Mr Varadkar was commenting following a difficult day for his party which is expected to lose up to a dozen seats.

Mr Varadkar had to suffer the ignominy by becoming the first Taoiseach in history not to top the poll in his constituency and he failed to get elected on 1st count in Dublin West, coming behind

Sinn Féin's Paul Donnolly who was ahead of the Taoiseach by 4,000 votes.

Responding, Mary Lou McDonald said the two other major parties, which up until this point have ruled out doing a deal with Sinn Féin, are "in a state of denial" and are still not listening to the public.

She said Saturday's poll represented significant change and she will now be working to form a Government.

"I want us to have ideally a Government with no Fianna Fáil or no Fine Gael in it. I have started the contact with other parties to explore over the next few days whether or not that is a possibility.

"We've been in touch with the Greens, with the Social Democrats with People Before Profit and there are others. Like I said throughout the campaign, and I meant it when I said it, we need change we need a new government, the best outcome is a government without Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil so that's the first thing that I want to test whether or not that is possible.

"I also have consistently said that I will talk to and listen to everybody. I think that's what grown ups do. I think that's what democracy demands."

Hitting out at Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar who have both repeatedly ruled out going into power with Sinn Féin, she said: "I do not accept the exclusion or talk of excluding our party - a party that represents almost a quarter of the electorate, I think this is fundamentally undemocratic."

McDonald who comfortably topped the poll in Dublin Central added: "The extraordinary thing is that it seems that the political establishment, and by that I mean Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are still in a state of denial, and they're still not listening to what the people have said and I want us to have a government for the people."

“It seems that we have now a three-party system … and that is going to make forming a government quite difficult,” says Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar #GE2020 https://t.co/9z2Z0WWIa1 pic.twitter.com/DxPUzW7y2E

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) February 9, 2020