It looks like we could be facing a general election over Christmas

More talks are to be held tomorrow...

Leo Varadkar has said on Friday that he will not be seeking the resignation of Tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald. He appeared on RTÉ's Six One new this evening and said that he would not be pressured over the weekend to dissolve the Dáil but if there was to be an election, he said it would be better that it would be done before Christmas. Varadkar said that there's still an opportunity to avoid an election and that they would discuss compromises over the coming days. But he warned that if there is not agreement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil before Tuesday, there would be an election and it would not be postponed until January. On The Six One news, he said the meeting between himself and Michael Martin earlier today had "cleared the air" somewhat, but no resolution was found. The pair are due to meet again on Saturday afternoon. Varadkar reaffirmed that he would not be seeking the resignation of the Tánaiste. "I don't believe that the decapitation of the Tánaiste, based on trumped-up charges, is fair," he said, "especially when [in] only a few weeks' time, the tribunal that the Oireachtas set up to look into these matters is going to do exactly that. "So let's all calm down a bit, let's pause for reflection, let's perhaps withdraw these motions and allow the Charleton Tribunal, starting on the 8th of January, to do the work that we set it up to do," said Mr Varadkar.