Joan Burton keeps her seat as Leo Varadkar is asked about replacing Enda Kenny
Interesting.
The fallout from the General Election is still being felt around Ireland as the Fine Gael- Labour coalition is in tatters while Fianna Fail supporters are celebrating. Michael Martin could be the happiest man in Ireland right now because it's looking increasingly likely that his party will have a prominent role in the next Irish government.
Whether or not that's with Fine Gael remains to be seen though because Ireland could be facing another election as the results continue to come in.
Labour have been utterly decimated by the electorate though with fears extending to the political future of party leader Joan Burton in her own Dublin West constituency.
After the fifth count, those fears were allayed as Burton got in along with Ruth Coppinger (SP) and Jack Chambers (FF) and Leo Varadkar (FG).
The moment Joan Burton retained her seat #DublinWest #GE16 pic.twitter.com/eHa1mXJNP2
— Cormac McQuinn (@CormacMcQuinn) February 27, 2016
A delighted @joanburton in #dubw @RTEdublinWEST #GE16 pic.twitter.com/mJsPm3Czd8
— Sharon Tobin (@sharontobin) February 27, 2016
Speaking of Varadkar, the Fine Gael autopsy has already begun and the inevitable question was put to the Health Minister, would he replace Enda Kenny as Fine Gael leader in the event that Enda resigned?
Here's what he had to say.
"I don't envisage that happening and I certainly hope that it doesn't. it has been a very difficult election for Fine Gael around the county and it was certainly worse than my worst fears in terms of the outcome today. There are a lot of colleagues that are struggling to hold their seats. Many of whom will lose their seats.".
