Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach Simon Harris has warned politicians from other parties not to “take my party for granted” in Government coalition talks.
“It would be very difficult to form any Government without Fine Gael’s participation,” he said, answering a question about whether his party might have accept being a junior partner in coalition with Fianna Fáil, which won 10 Dáil seats more than Fine Gael.
“Parity of esteem has always been an important concept in coalition gov. It’s about the glue that holds a Government together.”
Mr Harris said he didn’t want to “finger point”, in response to a suggestion that elements within Fianna Fáil were being “presumptuous” about the make-up of the next government. The Irish Times reported that Fianna Fáil sources said they wanted extra sway over Fine Gael at Cabinet.
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“I wouldn’t take my party for granted. Fewer public musings and more concrete engagement is the way to proceed,” said the Taoiseach. “There is far too much presumption in relation to Government talks before talks have even taken place.”
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Mr Harris said his party had received 458,000 first preference votes in the election. “Those people are going to be heard and respected,” he said.
The Taoiseach was speaking at the British Irish Council summit in Edinburgh, which was also attended by UK prime minister Keir Starmer and the first ministers of Scotland, Wales and the North, as well the leaders of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
He said he had appointed a negotiating team and would speak to them today upon his return to Ireland. He said he hoped to open formal negotiations with a number of parties next week.
He left open the possibility that Independent TDs could be offered Cabinet seats as part of Government formation talks, saying he “wouldn’t rule anything in or out” on the matter.
Separately, Fianna Fáil leader and Tánaiste Micheál Martin raised with the Scottish Government the issue of granting access to Irish fishing vessels to the eaters around Rockall, a disputed islet in the North Atlantic over which Britain claims sovereignty.
John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, confirmed to The Irish Times that Mr Martin had raised the issue with him directly. Scotland and Ireland had hammered out an access deal for Irish fishing boats earlier this year, but it was vetoed in May by the UK’s then-foreign secretary, David Cameron.
When asked if that deal could now be revived, Mr Swinney said his administration would “engage constructively with the Government of the Republic “to try to find a way forward to address the issues that are of concern”.
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Mr Harris and Mr Martin both skipped the press conference after the BIC on Friday afternoon due to the weather warnings for the West coast. Mr Starmer was the first UK prime minister to attend the working part of a BIC meeting in at least 15 years, although he skipped the summit dinner on Thursday night to attend a Labour Party event in Glasgow.
Mr Harris praised the prime minister for attending the working part of the BIC, which had been effectively ignored by Downing Street in the Tory years.
“I want to acknowledge that leadership from prime minister Starmer. It is a really important step forward,” said the Taoseach.
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