NEWLY ELECTED LABOUR TD Marie Sherlock has said her party would not enter into a coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on its own.

Sherlock said there would only be a basis for negotiation if “we’re with other small parties also”.

Speaking tonight on RTÉ’s Upfront with Katie Hannon, Sherlock said that Labour “has been very clear since before this election” that “in order to affect the change that is so desperately needed, that we can only do so on the basis of strength in numbers”.

“We can’t do with just 11 TDs, we need to have the other smaller parties working as a common block.”

@Labour TD @marie_sherlock rules out going into government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.@rtenews | #RTÉUpfront pic.twitter.com/yHCOJBl8mO

— RTÉ One (@RTEOne) December 2, 2024

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will have 86 TDs in the next Dáil, just two short of the 88 needed for a majority.

Yesterday, Labour leader Ivana Bacik said her party’s priority is to build a platform “on the left” before speaking to Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael about going into government.

Bacik said she would speak to the Social Democrats and the Green Party first, but did not rule out going into government with the two bigger parties.

The Social Democrats, like Labour, have 11 TDs while Green Party leader Roderic O’Gorman is the sole Green TD in the next Dáil.

And speaking today on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Bacik said she was “serious about delivering change” but that she wanted to “ensure there is a critical mass of centre-left and Green TDs” before entering into government formation talks.

When asked if Labour was prepared to negotiate on its own, Bacik said: “No, not at this stage, we are absolutely not willing to do that.”

“We want to ensure there is the largest number of TDs who share our vision and values,” said Bacik.

“I really want us to be very serious about entering talks on a common platform on the left, and then seeing whether we can shape the policies of the next government in a centre-left direction.”

Bacik meanwhile said she was “mindful of how the Greens have suffered through going into government” but added that it was “not healthy for democracy for parties to be content to sit in perpetual opposition”.

Elsewhere, Labour’s Alan Kelly today said “there’s no point in standing on the sidelines, you’ve got to consider going on the pitch and playing”.

‘There’s no point in standing on the sidelines. You’ve got to consider going on the pitch and playing,’ says Labour’s Alan Kelly on government formation talks | Read more: https://t.co/R3aR6uLqy9 pic.twitter.com/IfkjJBCRyo

— RTÉ Tipperary North (@RTETippNorth) December 2, 2024

Kelly has been a member of Labour’s Parliamentary Party since 2007 and said he will offer his “guidance and advice in relation to how we should negotiate”.

“Ivana has been very clear, we will talk to like-minded people and parties first, and then we will go from there, but we will have red line issues and conditions as regards any coalition talks.”