Opposition parties call for general election in wake of Taoiseach's resignation

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the Government should now put its record before the people in a general election

Sinn Féin Leader Mary Lou McDonald. File picture: Niall Carson/PA

There have been fresh calls from the opposition for a general election, as Leo Varadkar defends his decision to step down and have Fine Gael appoint a new Taoiseach.

Taking his final Leaders’ Questions as Taoiseach, Mr Varadkar rejected calls from Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald for a general election, saying that it was not unprecedented for the head of government to be changed mid-term.

Ms McDonald said that Mr Varadkar’s announcement has led the country to a “critical moment” and that the decision of who leads the Government must be handed to the public through an election.

“Today’s announcement can have only one conclusion — the calling of a general election,” Ms McDonald said.

“You have stated that it is your time to go and that you are not the person for the job. It is clear that it’s time for this entire Government to go, to allow people to have their say and allow the election of a new Government.”

Ms McDonald said it is “unthinkable” that Fine Gael would select a new Taoiseach.

“In my strong opinion, that confidence of the people can only be demonstrated, tested, and validated through the ballot box,” she said. “I put it to the Taoiseach again that rather than limping on and passing the office of Taoiseach among the members of the Government again, the correct democratic route at this point is to go to people, put the Government’s record before them and have all of us ask them, in a spirit of humility, who should lead.”

Mr Varadkar said there was “very little humility” in Ms McDonald’s contributions, while saying that a general election would be held within a year.

“An election will happen in due course but rather than having an early election, we want to continue to focus on the issues at hand, such as housing, the cost of living, managing migration better, our health service and law and order,” Mr Varadkar said.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns wished Mr Varadkar well on a personal level, saying that “politics can be tough”, but that the “writing is on the wall for this Government”.

Ms Cairns said that, throughout its 14 years in office, Fine Gael had failed to tackle the major issues facing Ireland “in housing, also in healthcare, in disability services and in climate action”.

“Another Fine Gael Taoiseach isn’t going to address any of this,” Ms Cairns said.

“If we’re going to address any of these issues, we need a change in approach,” she said, while calling for a general election.

Responding to Ms Cairns, Mr Varadkar said that “we are never going to wake up in a country that does not have problems or challenges”.

“That perfect country that has no problems does not exist. It only exists in fairytales. We should be honest with the public about that,” Mr Varadkar said.

“My biggest regret, if there is one, is that it is not possible to solve all the country’s problems at once.”

In response, Ms Cairns said that it is not a “fairytale” to want both disability services and housing.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said Mr Varadkar’s resignation would “destabilise” the current Government, while People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett described it as “a shifting of the deckchairs on the Titanic”.