Kenny meets Greens for ‘straightforward’ talks

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has described talks with the Green Party about the formation of a minority government as “very constructive”.

Fine Gael is currently engaged in talks with Independents and smaller parties for a minority government.

Speaking as he arrived for an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, Mr Kenny said he had talked to Green party leader Eamon Ryan and newly elected TD Catherine Martin on Wednesday.

“We met with the Green Party yesterday and had a very good meeting,” he said. “Obviously [they were] talking about policy issues in so far as the Green Party is concerned.

“They want to talk to their people on Monday and obviously they are looking forward to seeing issues that are important to the Green Party.”

He said the discussion with Mr Ryan was “very good, very constructive and very straightforward”.

The Green Party leader told The Irish Times last night that he had "good conversations" with Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in recent days.

“We said during the election campaign that we would talk to everybody about trying to get our policies implemented, and that is what we have being doing,” he said.

Stable objective

Mr Ryan said the objective was to put a stable government in place, and that the Green Party would play its part in trying to achieve that objective.

“If Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil won’t go into coalition with each other, the question is how a minority government can work,” said Mr Ryan.

“We are talking and listening, but there is a need for several parties to engage in this process. I don’t think we should be excluding ourselves from whatever options are possible.”

The Greens’ stance differs from that of the Social Democrats, who have announced that they will not participate in government with either large party.

However, Independents from two separate groups as well as individual Independents have engaged in talks with the two big parties, with a view to putting a minority government in place.

Fine Gael sources said they have made progress in their efforts to convince a range of Independents and small parties to back a minority government on the basis of an agreed programme and cabinet seats.

Senior Fine Gael figures now believe they can secure Dáil votes numbering in the 60s for Mr Kenny when it comes to the vote for Taoiseach, as long as the negotiations continue progressing.

While still well below a Dáil majority of 79, this would put Mr Kenny in a strong position to form a minority government, with cabinet positions going to Independents and small party representatives.

FF agreement

Such a minority government would require some form of an agreement with Fianna Fáil for a specified period; otherwise it would have little prospect of survival.

Fine Gael still hopes that the Labour Party will vote for Mr Kenny, even though its former partner has discharged its obligation by supporting him in the vote for taoiseach last week.

“Ideally we would like to see Labour coming back into government, but that is very unlikely for understandable reasons,” said one Fine Gael source. He expressed hope that Labour might be able to support a minority government for a fixed period.