Strong words.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has revealed he would rather leave his party Fine Gael than lead it into a coalition with Sinn Féin, according to reports.
The Fine Gael leader is said to have made the comments on Two Tribes, a two-part TV series for RTÉ presented by Sean O’Rourke which looks at the history of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil and their roots in the Irish Civil War.
Reports state that in the second episode of the show, set to air on Thursday night (22 December), Varadkar tells O’Rourke he “could not” lead his party in coalition with Sinn Féin and that he would be “totally against it”.
When asked if he would step down as Fine Gael’s leader rather than join forces with Mary Lou McDonald’s party, Varadkar is also reported to have responded: “I would resign as a member.”
Meanwhile, Tánaiste and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is said to have not ruled out a coalition with Sinn Féin in an interview for the same show.
However, he is also reported to have told the programme: “I think economically and politically, there would be huge difficulty in going into government with Sinn Féin.”
At the same time, Mary Lou McDonald said she would be open to talking to any party about forming a coalition.
“I’ll speak to everybody. I think that’s what grown-ups do,” she stated on the show.
“I think that’s the adult and in fact, the respectful thing to do.”
The second part of Two Tribes airs at 10.05pm on Thursday, 22 December on RTÉ One.
Main image via Leah Farrell/Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie
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