Bye bye Leo! Varadkar to REPLACED by Michael Martin as Irish PM as coalition deal approved - Express.co.uk

Fianna Fail leader Mr Martin is set to be elected Prime Minister on Saturday, in a role he will rotate with incumbent Leo Varadkar of Fine Gael.

Mr Varadkar is then due to return as Prime Minister halfway through the five-year term under a novel rotation agreement.

Under the new Cabinet, he is expected to take a role as an economy or business minister.

The new coalition will be part of a deal that will for the first time unite the two rival parties that have dominated politics in Ireland for over a century.

The move has come about after three quarters of Fianna Fail members backed a deal to restore a coalition Government in Ireland.

Fine Gael have also overwhelmingly endorsed the agreement.

The Greens needed the backing of two-thirds of its grassroot members, and passed by a margin of 76 percent to 24 percent.

Mr Varadkar had warned that if the new coalition had been rejected, parliament would have been unable to pass new laws, including those powering a huge 6.5 billion euro recovery fund to help Irish businesses impacted by the coronavirus crisis.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said: "Democracy in our party is alive and well, and I'm delighted that the recommendation that I gave to the party membership, recommending this programme for government, has been so overwhelmingly endorsed by the party membership.

"I'm very grateful to the members for doing that and I think what it says to me is that the vast majority of the party are very anxious, and I'm sure those who voted against it are too, that we get on with the business of helping the country to get through this crisis.

"To engineer economic recovery in the aftermath of Covid-19, to deal with the ongoing health dimension and risks associated with Covid-19, but critically to get people back to work, to get the different sectors back to work, to create a better type of society, a greater quality of life for people."

This ends four months of political deadlock since February's election after the three parties voted to pass the programme for government.

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The Tanaiste (deputy head of Government) will also rotate between parties, and the leadernof Fine Gael will initally hold that position.

Up to 15 Cabinet roles are expected to be split, with six each going to Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, and three to the Greens.

Former Prime Minister Mr Varadkar will have to demote some of his Cabinet ministers but Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney are expected to remain in their roles.

On Saturday, Mr Martin must also nominate 11 members of the upper house to enable him to pass crucial legislation.

Fianna Fail and Fine Gael can each choose four senators, and the Green Party two.

One Independent nominee will be selected - expected to be from Northern Ireland.

February's election saw Sinn Fein shock the political establishment after securing more votes than opposition parties for the first time in its history.

It now has 37 seats in the 160-seat parliament, which is the same number as Fianna Fail and two more than Fine Gael.

This is a breaking story. More to follow...

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2020-06-27 00:16:00Z
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