On 14 January, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called a General Election ending weeks of speculation about a date.Fine Gael was hoping that by having voters go to the polls at the weekend it would help to secure the votes of working families and younger people.
No party secured the 80 seats needed to achieve a majority. Sinn Féin's attempts to form a government with parties on the left failed. This led to weeks of government formation talks between Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party.Covid-19 threw the country into a public health and economic crisis, with a caretaker government at the helm.
Ireland's proportional representation, single transferable vote electoral system, combined with the two bigger parties losing their historical dominance, resulted in a Dáil made up of many different parties and groups and a long period of negotiations. The fact that there was no senior minister from west of the Shannon sparked tension. Then, deputy leader of Fianna Fáil, Dara Calleary, who was regarded by many as a shoo-in to Cabinet, was offered the position of Chief Whip. Many Fianna Fáil TDs expressed their shock and anger at the decision.More trouble followed, after Agriculture Minister Barry Cowen lasted less than a month in his position before he was sacked by the Taoiseach following revelations about a drink driving incident.
The rotating taoiseach did seem to be the answer to the political deadlock before the Government was formed, but how the arrangement works out remains to be seen.The Green Party had reason to celebrate after the General Election, securing 12 TDs making it the fourth largest party elected to the Dáil.
A crisis erupted over the Children's Minister Roderic O'Gorman's mother-and-baby home legislation, leading to a number of high profile members resigning, including Cork councillor Lorna Bogue and chair of the Young Greens Tara Gilsenan. Supreme Court Judge Seamus Woulfe dug his heels in when he came under pressure to consider his position.
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