Social Democrats cancel planned meeting with Fine Gael

The Social Democrats have cancelled a planned meeting with Fine Gael today accusing the party of game playing when it comes to government formation talks.

Leo Varadkar said last night his party prefers to head towards opposition.

The Social Democrats were due to meet Fine Gael later but have cancelled saying it's clear that Fine Gael are engaged only in a game playing exercise and theatrics.

It comes after Leo Varadkar said his party prefers to head towards opposition - without fully ruling out doing a deal with Fianna Fáil.

The Social Democrats have said they were unlikely to find much common ground with Fine Gael anyway - but they feel Fine Gael's intention is to engage in shadow boxing for the next few weeks, and they've no interest in being part of that charade.

Sinn Féin is due to meet independents and smaller parties today with the Greens also involved in discussions ahead of the Dáil's first sitting on Thursday.