Lowry says he will back Kenny for taoiseach in further Dáil vote

Independent Tipperary TD Michael Lowry has said he will support Enda Kenny when the Dáil again votes on candidates for taoiseach in the weeks ahead.

Mr Lowry told The Irish Times on Friday he will support Mr Kenny, making him the first Independent Deputy to commit to supporting either the acting Taoiseach or Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.

Mr Lowry was absent from the Dáil for Thursday’s vote because he was attending the funeral of a close friend and political colleague in Tipperary.

He said Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil should form a coalition government but, failing that, Mr Kenny should form a minority government or give serious consideration to an immediate general election.

Mr Lowry said he is "concerned" that other Independent deputies have so far stood back and not declared support for either Mr Martin or Mr Kenny.

During the election campaign, Mr Kenny said he would not seek Mr Lowry’s support in a vote for taoiseach. The Tipperary TD said he has spoken to numerous parties seeking his support, but not on a formal basis.

“I haven’t formally spoken to anyone,” he said. “I take my position on the basis that it is in the national interest. I have been talking to every political party and a number of Independents and that includes Fianna Fáil.

‘National interest’

“This is stalemate. Every Independent and everyone else has to think of the national interest. It is not a place of jockeying for position. Nobody needs to twist my arm to tell me what is right.

“It’s embarrassing to hear everybody offside and nobody making a decision as to who they will support and trying to position themselves.

“If Fianna Fáil are not in a position to coalesce with Fine Gael, then the Taoiseach has a decision to make. He either goes for a minority government in which he is the largest party, or I think he should think seriously about going to the country - not in three months’ time, not in six months, but immediately, and expose Fianna Fáil for trying to make political capital out a situation that is too precarious nationally for that.”

On his own Dáil vote on the position of taoiseach, Mr Lowry said it may not arise if Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael form a coalition because the two parties will have sufficient numbers.

“If there is to be a coalition government, the numbers are there in strength. If it’s to be a minority government, I would support Fine Gael and Enda Kenny on the basis that they have the greater numbers. They are the largest party.”

He said the people “have spoken”, and that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael should form a coalition.

“I think it has to be a coalition government, because that is the only way you are going to get stability.

‘Preening themselves’

“Nobody has any interest in Fianna Fáil prancing around preening themselves, making themselves available in a minority situation in a conditional way. Nobody with any political judgment would accept that.

“As far as I would be concerned, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have responsibilities and an onus as the two largest parties. They should set aside their party political interests and look towards the needs of the country and the needs of the economy.

“The only difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are ones that are contrived form a policy platform.”

Such an arrangement could be a "a power-sharing government", he said, adding that Fianna Fáil had encouraged republicans and unionists to share power in Northern Ireland.

Earlier, Fianna Fáil health spokesman Billy Kelleher said a Fianna Fáil-led minority government could work if opposition groups and parties abstained on certain votes.

The party is not prepared to “tear up” the mandate it was given to provide an alternative government by agreeing a deal with Fine Gael, he said.

He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the party will meet all the other groups and Independent TDs who have expressed an interest in forming a government.

Inconclusive vote

He said party leader Micheál Martin will intensify discussions with other TDs following Thursday’s inconclusive Dáil vote for a taoiseach.

He said Fianna Fáil will also seek to speak with the Labour Party, which has "a very significant role to play" in the formation of a government.

With the party still firmly against any form of coalition, there is a growing consensus among TDs of the two biggest parties that the country is headed for a minority government led by one of them or, if not that, a second election.

Mr Kelleher said he was confident a Fianna Fáil minority government would be able to pass budgets and other vital legislation if non-government parties abstain on “important issues”.