Likelihood of government talks success ‘less than 50:50’

Green deputy leader Catherine Martin.

The likelihood of success in the talks aimed at forming a government was put at “less than 50:50” because of the internal wrangling within the Green Party, senior government sources have said.

Formal talks between Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens commenced yesterday with discussions focusing in on how the process will operate over the coming weeks.

The deputy leaders of the three parties – Simon Coveney, Dara Calleary and Catherine Martin - are to meet again today with their respective teams “on standby” for talks over the weekend or on Monday.

However, concerns among some in the larger parties about the willingness or ability of Eamon Ryan’s party to stay the course were articulated around Leinster House yesterday.

The tensions within the Greens was illustrated by the fact they only confirmed the names of their negotiating teams moments before the talks began.

Ms Martin was named as the team lead and was joined by fellow rebel, Dublin Central TD Neasa Hourigan, Roderic O’Gorman, Ossian Smyth and Marc Ó Cathasaigh.

While sources said “there is a good deal of commonality” between the parties’ manifestos on climate issues, the clear divisions within the Green Party risks collapsing the process.

“Look at the team they put together, led by their deputy leader who is opposed to going in, there is a huge chance this will end up going nowhere,” said one source.

In identical statements released by all of the parties, they said: “We hope this will be the first of many meetings and all parties have agreed to keep this process confidential until it is completed.”

However, sources said the talks in Agriculture House were “all about process” and the mechanisms by which the talks will proceed.

It is proposed that sub-teams from each party will then seek to develop agreement on a “thematic” basis with a view to agreeing a document by the end of the month.