Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein is ready to enter government in Ireland and it would be undemocratic to exclude it, leader Mary Lou McDonald said on Sunday after tallies indicated her party narrowly secured the most votes in a national election.
Francesca Lynagh reports.
Irish nationalists Sinn Fein are demanding to be part of the next Irish government, after the left-wing party unexpectedly secured the most votes in an election that leader Mary Lou McDonald described as a ballot-box "revolution." The former political wing of the IRA secured 24.5% of first-preference votes.
That's almost double its share from the last election in 2016.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) SINN FEIN LEADER, MARY LOU MCDONALD, SAYING: "I want us to have a government for the people.
I want us to have ideally a government with no Fianna Fail or no Fine Gael in it [...] But I also have to say this in any event, I do not accept the exclusion or talk of excluding our party, a party that represents now almost a quarter of the electorate.
I think that that is fundamentally undemocratic." Sinn Fein's ultimate goal is to reunite Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The party has said the precondition for it to join a coalition would be a promise to hold a unity referendum within five years.
Sinn Fein's first choice is to join up with fellow left-wing parties, but McDonald said on Monday (February 10) the Irish nationalist party will also talk to the country's dominant center-right parties Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.
Sinn Fein won't be able to form a coalition if its centre-right rivals stick to their guns and shun the victor.
What happens next depends on the final result of the election - which is yet to be announced.
In the 2016 election, it took Irish political parties ten weeks to form a government.