‘There will have to be talks’ – Troy

Robert Troy – who looks assured of the second seat in Longford Westmeath – has said it is clear the parties will have to talk, but that it’s not in any way clear what the outcome of those talks is likely to bring.

“We don’t know yet what the final makeup is going to be of any of the parties: there’s going to be a handful of votes in the difference between us, Fine Gael and Sinn Féin, and there’s an onus and a responsibility between the three parties to sit down, to negotiate and to find out is there common ground,” he said at the count centre this afternoon.

A question that would have to be addressed was that of whether there were differences in policy that were insurmountable, Mr Troy continued.

He admitted that the outcome meant some serious thinking for Fianna Fáil: “We’ve spent four years propping up a minority Fine Gael government – in the national interest, because of Brexit. Brexit hasn’t gone away; we still need stability; we still need a sense of certainty.

“And the only way you will get that is by ensuring that the parties that come together are compatible, that they can compromise and that there is a chance that they will be able to work together for a period of time.”

Mr Troy pointed out that there would be little appetite for another election soon after this: “There’s no point in coming together for five months or six months,” he stated.

“At this stage,” he said, “we don’t know if the differences that are between us and the other parties are surmountable and we will just have to wait and see.

“I am quite clearly saying that the only way you can assess that is by sitting down and talking.”