A group of Independent TDs will meet next weekend in the hope of launching a national movement that could form part of the next government.
Councillors from around the country have been invited to a meeting in Tullamore, Co Offaly, next Saturday to join five TDs in a national alliance of Independents.
Dublin TD Finian McGrath, one of the driving forces behind the movement, told The Irish Times that if enough of them could win Dáil seats they could be in government after the election.
He said the group would stand on an agreed set of principles and these would form the basis of any negotiations on the formation of government.
The other TDs involved are Shane Ross, Michael Fitzmaurice, John Halligan and Tom Fleming.
General election
Mr McGrath said that he would be very happy if they could get 10 to 15 councillors to join the movement as that would put them in a position to win up to 20 seats in a general election.
“We have been talking to people for the past few months and have come across a number of fantastic councillors, urban and rural, men and women, who are deeply embedded in their communities,” he said.
Mr McGrath said they hoped to agree on a set of principles that could unite them while remaining Independents.
“It is going to take three parties or groupings to form the next government. If we get enough seats we can play an important role in that process.”
He said the Independent alliance would seek senior and junior ministerial posts as well as having its key principles included in a programme for government.
Mr McGrath said a whip system would apply on economic and budgetary issues but not on moral or social issues.
He said the prospect of Independents joining a government would make them relevant in the final days of an election campaign when voters focused on that issue.
Narrow financial interests
However, Fine Gael Cork North-West TD Áine Collins accused the Independents of looking after their narrow financial interests by avoiding the establishment of a new party.
“In November of last year, Deputy Ross said ‘the time was right’ for a new alliance and that he had spent ‘months’ canvassing people about it. It’s been four months and we are still waiting to hear what the grouping stands for,” she said.
