Taoiseach says ‘no talk’ in Coalition about holding general election next year

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has moved to dampen down speculation that there will be a general election next year, insisting that the Government’s focus is on delivering in next month’s budget for families and communities.

Asked during a visit to Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork on Friday about the possibility of going to the country next year, the Fine Gael leader said the issue has not come up in discussions he has had with fellow Coalition leaders Micheál Martin and Eamon Ryan.

The Government’s term is due to run into 2025 but there has been regularly speculation about a general election taking place next year.

“Look, there’s no consideration or no talk at the moment among the party leaders or in Government about the election. I understand it’s something that people are very interested in. It’s absolutely not our focus,” Mr Varadkar said.

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“Our focus is helping people with the cost of living and the budget coming up soon. It’s making more progress on housing and health reform. It’s making sure children have a better start in life. It’s building safer, stronger communities.”

Struggle

Mr Varadkar also played down suggestions that Fine Gael would struggle to hold the 35 seats it won in the 2020 general election due to up to nine of the party’s sitting TDs, including veterans such as Richard Bruton and Michael Creed, stating that they will not run again.

“I think, as I said yesterday, Fine Gael is a little bit different to many other political parties. Most TDs don’t get to retire. They tend to lose their seats after one or two terms. We’re different in the sense that we’ve been electorally successful for a very long time now,” he said.

“And we have a huge number of TDs who have been elected for five, six, even 10 times to the Dáil and some of them are retiring. That’s a natural thing in any organisation. We’re very much an organization that is going through a period of renewal.”

He added: “I remember in 2020 we had a lot of retirements too. Enda Kenny retired, Alan Dillon held that seat. Michael Noonan retired, Kiaran O’Donnell took that seat, Frank Feighan took Tony McLoughlin’s seat when he retired. Francis Fitzgerald went to the European Parliament and Emer Higgins is a TD there.”

Succession plans

Mr Varadkar said that in almost every constituency Fine Gael has “a succession plan” in place, sometimes involving a senator or sometimes a high profile councillor, though there are occasions when it runs someone from outside the party.

“There will be one or two places where it’s going to be a bit tricky, but this is a party that has always been able to find new people,” he said, adding that the likes of Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Neale Richmond were not household names before election 2020 but were now Ministers of State.

Asked about a comment he made in 2015 about not envisaging himself staying in politics after the age of 50, Mr Varadkar said he is committed to politics for the foreseeable future.

“I’m 44, so I’ve at least one more election in me, if not two, and I’m looking forward to that and the newly enlarged constituency of Dublin West. I am absolutely committed to politics and haven’t thought beyond the next the next election or the one after that, but I am actually committed to the job and leading my party and being Taoiseach of the country.”