Taoiseach finally rules out Lowry

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has finally ruled out making any deal with Independent TD Michael Lowry in establishing a future minority government.

Considering his vacillation on the issue over the last few weeks, he must have been put under pressure from senior figures in his own party, as well as in Labour, to emphatically rule out doing a deal with the disgraced former minister and former chairman of the Fine Gael parliamentary party.

Up to now, Kenny’s failure to explicitly reject the possibility of seeking or accepting Lowry’s support had become increasingly problematic for him, as well as for Fine Gael.

Both Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams have also ruled out doing a deal with Lowry, but that came easier for both of them as, unlike Kenny, neither served with him in government.

The Taoiseach made the announcement regarding Lowry during a radio interview on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland and the pity of it is that he could not have left it at that. Instead, he said he would “not have any dealings with Michael Lowry or any other Independent” as if other elected non-party TDs were as untouchable as his former cabinet colleague.

The reality is that, on current polls, any future Fine Gael-Labour coalitiion will be short of a majority in the Dáil and therefore may need to consider doing deals with independents, whether Mr Kenny likes it or not.