The leader of Fianna Fáil has said it “remains to be seen” whether a government will be formed before Christmas.
Micheál Martin also said it looks likely that his party will exceed the first preference vote of 19.5% predicted in the RTÉ, Irish Times, TG4, Trinity College Dublin Exit Poll carried out by Ipsos B&A.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio One from Cork, where he topped the poll in Cork South-Central, Mr Martin said it was “very early days but we do see a route to a very strong finish here in this election”.
He said the country has a very “competitive and fragmented electoral situation”.
Tallies of first counts will be reasonably accurate, he said, but added that geography, eliminations and the distribution of surpluses will all be factors in determining seats.
“It’s a bit too early yet to call the exact type of government that will form the composition of the next government, but there will be a sufficiency of seats, I think, that aligns with the core principles that I articulated throughout this campaign around the pro-enterprise economy, a positively pro-European Union position, a government that will strongly push for home ownership, parties that are transparently democratic in how they conduct their affairs,” he said.
Mr Martin added that there is “unfinished business” regarding housing, and that there are many people “feeling the pressure because of the cost of living”.
On when that next government could be formed, Mr Martin said it was likely to be faster than in 2020 – when the Covid pandemic had a significant impact – it will be “challenging”.
Mr Martin added that regardless of which group of parties engage in discussions, detailed work will have to be done in terms of organising a programme for government.
The Fianna Fáil leader, and outgoing Tánaiste, also said he wanted to pay tribute to everyone who served in the last Government.
“I think the Green Party made a very positive contribution to Government, I think some good constructive, positive policies emerged from the last Government,” he said.
“I think the last Government had to weather very significant external shocks.”
Mr Martin said that the long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted this election.
“If you look at the cost-of-living crisis, it has its genesis within Covid, if you look at healthcare, a lot of waiting lists grew dramatically because of the emergency that Covid was, and there were a lot of impacts on society because of it, and we weathered it,” he said.
“The Greens, to their credit, didn’t buckle over the four and a half years, and being in Government can be difficult for any political party, and it is to the credit of the Greens that they went into Government,” Mr Martin added.
“We had challenges, we had different priorities as three political parties, but this Government went full term, and I think Ireland is for the better of that.”
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