Fine Gael TDs feel they ceded too much power to Independents in new coalition

'Two super juniors and three juniors as well as Ceann Comhairle is too much', as one FG insider put it

Five of the seven Regional Independent TDs  Gillian Toole, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran, Noel Grealish, Michael Lowry, and Barry Heneghan, speaking to the media at Leinster House on Wednesday. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael TDs have broadly welcomed the draft programme for government, though some in Fine Gael have complained about Independent TDs having too much power in the incoming coalition.

The two parties’ TDs met on Wednesday to discuss the deal, with negotiators setting out the path in government over the next five years.

A Fine Gael source said the party’s reaction was “muted”, which they largely attributed to the composition of its 38 TDs.

With many new TDs, there was little appetite to “rock the boat”, the source said, while many of the more experienced were “fighting for jobs”.

Among some sources, there is a sense that Fine Gael had ceded too much power to the Independents. One source said: 

Two super juniors and three juniors as well as Ceann Comhairle is too much. 

Another said the coalition had “given away” roles which would not go to party members.

Another source said party leader Simon Harris sought to address the matter during the meeting, comparing it to the number of Cabinet seats the Green Party received in 2020.

A senior Fianna Fáil source also highlighted that without the Green Party’s 12 seats, the Coalition needed to be buttressed with support from Independents.

If you look at the numbers, if one or two TDs aren’t there, we’d be in trouble, so the Independents had a stronger hand than some think.

One point mentioned in the Fianna Fáil meeting was around the scheduling of the next election, which has been formally pencilled in for November 2029.

Sources said that move from the incoming government would “provide certainty” and guard against rampant speculation in the last year of the Coalition.

Michael Healy-Rae and Danny Healy-Rae outside Leinster House after it was confirmed that Michael will take up a junior role in the new government. Picture: Cate McCurry/PA

It comes as the Healy-Raes confirmed they will support the incoming government over the next five years, with Michael Healy-Rae set to become a junior minister.

Asked if there was a specific constituency deal for Kerry from the negotiations, Michael Healy-Rae said he and Danny will ensure the new government will take on board “the issues and concerns” in Kerry.

“Remember, if they’re in Co Kerry, they’re reflected throughout the rest of the country,” he said.

“Those issues are taken on board at the heart of government. 

We are going to use our position now, the two of us, in supporting the government and in supporting Kerry in what I would like to call a better and stronger way than what we might have been able to do in the past.

Pressed on thorny issues for rural TDs, like carbon tax or reducing emissions for agriculture, Danny Healy-Rae said the two had to weigh up the positives and negatives.

He referred to “nonsense” carried out by the previous government.

Meanwhile, Tipperary TD Michael Lowry reiterated the Regional Independent Group’s intention to support the government over the next five years, with Noel Grealish and Seán Canney both due to serve in Cabinet as super junior ministers. Mr Lowry said that “everybody is up to the task”.

During the same press conference, Mr Lowry criticised the media for being “over-consumed” with the Moriarty Tribunal.

He said the media has attempted to undermine his “strong mandate” from Tipperary voters in the general election.

“I also enjoy the confidence of the Taoiseach and Tánaiste in the negotiations that I’ve had, because unlike you, they respected the mandate that I have from the people.”

Mr Lowry has always denied wrongdoing in relation to the Tribunal, which was established in 1997 to examine payments made to former taoiseach Charles Haughey and himself.