Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said there would be “huge difficulties” with his party going into government with Sinn Féin, but did not rule out the possibility of such a coalition after the next election.

Irish Times December 26 2023

Fianna Fáil (FF) and Fine Gael (FG), two tweedledum and tweedledee capitalist parties, have controlled every government running the southern 26 county bit of partitioned Ireland since a 1921 Treaty was signed with the former occupying power, Britain. A carnival of reaction followed on both sides of the Irish border.

Faced with a false choice between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the only rational policy for the left was and is : no coalition, on principle, with any right-wing party. 

The need for this policy is explained in this interview with Paul Murphy TD (People Before Profit, Dublin South-West) : To all of them we say: rule out coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael – interview with Paul Murphy TD after the February 2020 Irish General Election

The Irish 2020 General Election yielded a landmark result : for the first time ever in the 100 year history of the Irish state, FF and FG could not form a government alone, or with one of them getting help from a smaller coalition party. FFFG are in coalition with one another, propped up by the Green Party and numerous right-wing independents (Gombeens). A new Frankenstein controls the Leinster House Dáil chamber : FFFGGG (Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Greens and Gombeens).

The biggest opposition party in the 2020 Dáil is Sinn Féin. It has an electoral base which leans strongly towards the far-left : transfer patterns at the 2020 General Election are the proof, as Paul Murphy explained in the above referenced interview :

There’s no question that the voters for Sinn Féin are looking to the left. The rate of transfer from SF proves this. A huge percentage of SF voters went on to vote for parties of the radical and socialist left. This indicates that the SF vote was overwhelmingly a vote to end the cycle of FF and FG rule and have radical change of a leftward character. That is what the majority of that SF vote expressed.

Going into coalition with either FF or FG has always been the kiss of death for smaller parties : often the fate of the Irish Labour Party (but this has also happened to the Green party, the Progressive Democrats and Clann na Poblachta). The same is likely to happen to the Green party in the current Dublin coalition government. Since the formation of the FFFGGG coalition opinion polls have consistently recorded support for Sinn Féin ranging between 30 and 35 per cent – suggesting that the party led by Mary Lou McDonald TD is likely to be the biggest Dáil party after the next Irish General Election, which must happen by February 2025. On these numbers, SF will not be able to form a government on its own, but it has not ruled out coalition with FFFG. In 2023 SF has dropped a lot of policies which the right-wing finds unacceptable – for example abolition of the non-jury Special Criminal Court. Most party activists are anti-racists, but the leadership has started to make concessions to the far-right on this issue. The leaderships of FFFG are not stupid. The Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin (who specialises in red-baiting attacks on Sinn Féin) has publicly opened the door to coalition with his Sinn Féin rivals. The story below comes from the December 26 2023 edition of the Irish Times.

John Meehan December 26 2023   

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‘Huge difficulties’ with prospect of Sinn Féin-Fianna Fáil coalition, says Martin

Tánaiste refuses to accept SF-led administration inevitable, noting opposition to that party polling in region of 40%

Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said there would be “huge difficulties” with his party going into government with Sinn Féin, but did not rule out the possibility of such a coalition after the next election.

Asked by reporters if he would accept the role of tánaiste by going into coalition as a minority partner with Sinn Féin, Mr Martin replied: “Our aim is to go in and I’m elected as taoiseach. That’s the objective.”

He said he did not accept that it was certain that Sinn Féin, which is polling as the most popular party, would be in the next government.

“The parties in opposition to Sinn Féin are on 40 per cent minimum at any given poll, Sinn Féin are down at around 30 and suddenly you’re all jumping to the conclusion that it’ll be a Sinn Féin-led government. I don’t get that. Some of you seem to be of the view that that is where it has to be — it doesn’t have to be that way.”

Mr Martin also said there are “very serious issues” about Sinn Féin’s policies, citing its response to the Israel-Hamas conflict in particular.

“Particularly in terms of its initial response, going for the populist perspective, changing its position within a week on the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and failing to point out how that would help us get Irish citizens out of Gaza at the time.

“We get the sense that in government they would be dragged all the time by the far left into positions that are untenable and that are irresponsible. That was very evident in terms of its foreign policy and in terms of other policy initiatives.

“We saw recently in the crime case, in terms of looting in Dublin and the attacks on the gardaí and bus drivers, Sinn Féin, when the State was under attack, decided to go on a political and electoral track.”

Sinn Féin failed in bid to pass a motion of no confidence in Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and also called for the resignation of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.

He added: “I think they miscued on that but its further evidence of how they view things through the electoral prism all the time, almost exclusively — and not, in my view, in a more serious track.”

Pressed if he could therefore not rule out a coalition with the party that would place him as tánaiste, Mr Martin replied: “That’s a position the party will come to in due course.” — PA