Irish parliament elects Micheál Martin as prime minister after compromise deal
The Irish parliament has elected Micheál Martin as prime minister, 24 hours after chaotic scenes in the Dáil caused the cancellation of his formal appointment.
Martin’s return to the role of taoiseach comes after a group of regional independent TDs (members of parliament), who are propping up his government, agreed a compromise to delay talks to resolve the dispute that derailed what should have been a set-piece ceremony on Wednesday.
With calm replacing the previous day’s rancour on opposition benches, Martin pledged to “remain open to constructive ideas” as leader of the centre-right coalition government.
He said: “As I look at Ireland today, it is clear that there can be a degree of cynicism towards politics and too often we dismiss the motivation of others, especially those we disagree with. I reject this. I believe in the good faith of those who seek to serve their communities in elective office – and I believe that politics remains a force for good, a force for positive change.”
Parliamentarians voted 95 to 76 in support of the nomination of the Fianna Fáil leader as taoiseach.
High on the agenda for the new government is the chronic housing crisis that has dominated local politics for the past few years, along with health, education, infrastructure and the economy.
On the international front, Ireland faces an urgent need to launch a diplomatic offensive in Washington to head off any threat from the Trump administration to repatriate jobs and taxes paid by US multinationals with European headquarters in
, including Apple, Microsoft, Meta, X and Pfizer.The new cabinet will be confirmed later on Thursday but few surprises are expected in the coalition, which is made up from Martin’s centre-right Fianna Fáil party and Fine Gael, led by the outgoing taoiseach, Simon Harris.
In a repeat of the novel rotating taoiseach deal Harris’s predecessor Leo Varadkar had struck with Fianna Fáil, Martin will remain in the role for three years, with Harris taking over in November 2027. Martin last served as taoiseach from 2020 to 2022.
Harris will become the deputy prime minister, with a strengthened foreign affairs ministerial role to include international trade – a role already being nicknamed “minister for Trump”.
Paschal Donohoe, a veteran of the government and the president of the EU’s Eurogroup of finance ministers, is widely expected to return to the role of finance minister.
Helen McEntee, another TD well known on the international stage having burnished her credentials as Europe minister during the Brexit crisis, is expected to become the education minister.
Just four ministerial roles are expected to go to women after November’s election resulted in the lowest proportion of female parliamentarians in western
, with a 75:25 ratio of men to women.The way was paved for the new government after opposition leaders hammered out a deal with Harris and Martin to avert a second day of rebellion in the Dáil.
In a historic show of unity, Sinn Féin, Labour, Social Democrats and others had
derailed the formal election of Martin
on Wednesday amid rancorous protests over an attempt by independent TDs propping up the government to sit on opposition benches.It meant Martin’s big day was left in tatters, with a ceremony involving the president, Michael D Higgins, having to be abandoned.
In angry clashes, Martin accused the opposition parties of a “subversion of the Irish constitution” while the enraged Sinn Féin leader, Mary Lou McDonald, accused Martin and Harris of a “cynical ruse” to take power.
Independents, who have propped up the government but who were not earmarked for ministerial roles, protested that they had a legitimate right to sit among the opposition in order to represent their constituents.