The Dáil has elected Leo Varadkar as Taoiseach for a second time.
TDs voted by a margin of 87 to 62 to see the 43 year old take over from Micheál Martin.
Independent TDs Peter Fitzpatrick, Noel Grealish, Cathal Berry, Marc MacSharry, Michael Lowry and Denis Naughten voted with the Government.
This evening (Saturday) the business of reforming the Cabinet will take centre stage.
Both Fianna Fail TDs in Carlow Kilkenny would like to be featured in some way. While John McGuinness is ready to step up, he’s not sure he’ll be asked. Speaking to KCLR, Deputy McGuinness said “I see a role for myself – whether someone else does or not is another thing. But I enjoy what I’m doing in finance I have to say. We have a good agenda running for next year, and I’d like to see that through. I think that the government have to set their agenda for the year ahead and the end of term, because this will become very difficult now.”
Jennifer Murnane O’Connor too thinks it could be some time before she’s in the ministerial mix, saying to KCLR News “I’d love to be there eventually. Hopefully one day I’ll be there. The main thing is that the people of the country have a stable government, and that we can deliver. Housing and healthcare to me are the two issues that I feel need to be addressed, and that’s what we need to deliver on.”
