Coalition talks could last for weeks but left wing alliance 'unlikely', says Micheál Martin

Mr Martin said a coalition would not be formed next week when the Dáil meets again and he now also expects the outgoing government to attend St Patrick's Day festivities in the US in mid March.

"There won't be a government formed when the Dáil reconvenes next week and I expect the interim government to conduct the St Patrick's Day functions and so on," Mr Martin said after his hour-long meeting with Mr Varadkar.

In his own statement, Mr Varadkar said both leaders exchanged views on a number of matters including housing, climate change, health, cost of living, the economy and taxation.

“Both sides agreed to meet again at a future point,” he said. But Mr Varadkar added that Fine Gael will continue to "prepare" to go into opposition.

Fine Gael sources said, ahead of a parliamentary party meeting today, that Mr Varadkar is not expected to seek any special mandate from his TDs for future talks with Fianna Fáil. Furthermore, the party will discuss reform and how to boost its member numbers in the wake of the bruising election that saw it lose seats and come third.

Mr Martin, during his comments to the media, also hit out at rivals Sinn Féin and said party leader Mary Lou McDonald's ambitions for a left-leaning coalition are over: “Very clearly you can see the so-called left wing alliance hasn’t really made any progress in terms of numbers in the Dáil and that remains a very unlikely scenario.”

He also dismissed pressure from Sinn Féin and others to include them in talks or government formation, insisting: “The people's government can only be formed by a majority of elected representatives of Dáil Eireann. Everybody knows that.

Put away all the hype and hyperbole. You can have as many meetings as you like. The bottom line. The people elect Dáil Eireann under our constitution.

Mr Martin said voters want parties to get stuck into solving issues: “They expect us to get stuck in, to form a government.”

He said voters in his home constituency of Cork South Central have economic concerns: “Brexit again, people are concerned about coronavirus. They can see the impact that is beginning to have economically.”

Fianna Fáil wants to form a pro-jobs and a pro-enterprise government that will ensure the economy remains competitive, explained Mr Martin.

Mr Martin and Mr Varadkar have now both agreed to meet again after the preliminary talks. Both leaders with their political teams also met Independents today and the nine-member technical group recently formed.

Mr Martin said that the group, led by Denis Naughten and Sean Canney, wants a government that would "last the distance" and is willing to be involved in coalition formation talks.

The Independents also expressed their concerns about the “imbalance” between urban and rural areas.