Sin Féin haven't ruled out idea of forming national government to tackle Covid-19

Sinn Féin have not ruled out the idea of forming a "national government" in order to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

The idea, floated by the Green Party, would use the D'Hondt system of proportional representation, and see members of every party form a cabinet, on a temporary basis as Ireland continues without an official government in the wake of February's election.

Greens leader Eamon called for government formation talks to be suspended and said a crisis government could be formed in the interim to tackle the COVID19 pandemic.

The Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald did not rule out the idea, but says it could be "difficult and cumbersome".

"I think we need to look at every option," Ms McDonald said.

"I think it could be difficult to put together, it could be quite cumbersome, but we will consider every proposal on the table.

"I have raised a question to the viability of how it could work, it was the Greens who put it forward and when I asked spoke to them about it, I said I'm not sure how it would work, but we would consider anything and everything."

Health Minister Simon Harris has ruled out the idea, saying: “I don’t think anybody should use this public health emergency as an opportunity to kind of demand that they must be in government.

“I am not actually sure how you can get greater clarity of thought by involving multiple parties in a national government."

While Social Democrat TD Gary Gannon called the idea a "political experiment" and said it would not be practical during the pandemic crisis.

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