Pearse Doherty: 'It shouldn’t be left to Fine Gael to choose the next Taoiseach'

Donegal Sinn Féin TDs Pearse Doherty and Pádraig Mac Lochlainn have called for a General Election following Leo Varadkar’s resignation.

Varadkar announced on Wednesday afternoon he would step down as Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael with immediate effect, although will remain as head of Government until a new party is elected.

A new Fine Gael leader will be in place by the Fine Gael Ard Fheis on Saturday, April 6. The selection will then go to a Dáil vote to become the next Taoiseach. A General Election must be held by March 2025.

However, Doherty believes it should be up to the people of Ireland to elect Varadkar's successor as Taoiseach in a general election.

“Fine Gael shouldn’t pick the next Taoiseach, you should,” he posted. “We need a General Election now. It’s time for a new government. It’s time for change.”

Doherty added on RTÉ’s Prime Time: “It shouldn’t be left up to Fine Gael TDs and Fine Gael senators, with due respect, to choose who the next Taoiseach of this State is. It's the highest office in the land. The idea is that we will have the third Taoiseach in this term.

“We're four years on from the last General Election and you know there might be interest in as to how Fine Gael select their next leader, what most people out there want is change and it's not just a change of Taoiseach, it’s a change of government. Leo Varadkar has just said that he’s packing his bags, that he’s thrown in the towel and that he’s not up to this job. It’s my view that this government is not up for this job.

“This new Taoiseach, for me, will not have a mandate as they have not presented themselves to the public as a future Taoiseach. It’s a party that came third in the last general election. The legacy of Leo, at the end of the day, will be the housing crisis, it will be a healthcare system that is at a point of crisis on a daily basis. People now think it’s normal that you go to a hospital and you could still be sitting on that same chair the following day. Regardless of who the new leader is, the Fine Gael policies will remain.”

Mac Lochlainn, above, posted: “The brass neck of this government! They’ve had their four years. It should be the Irish people and not members of the Fine Gael party who decide who should be the next Taoiseach. It’s time for a General Election. It’s time for a big change of direction.”

Varadkar first became Taoiseach in 2017 and in 2020’s election, led Fine Gael to a third-place finish in terms of the number of seats in Dáil Éireann. A coalition was formed between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party and it was agreed that Varadkar and Micheál Martin, the Fianna Fáil leader, would each hold the position of taoiseach for two years.

In 2020, Martin was appointed Taoiseach with Varadkar serving as his Tánaiste and the pair swapped roles in 2022.

Deputy Leader of Fine Gael, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, who lost to Varadkar in the 2017 Fine Gael leadership contest, has confirmed that he will not seek the party leadership.

Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris may be considered the favourite to take over from Varadkar, with Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe understood to be a serious contender. Minister for Social Protection Heather Humphreys, Helen McEntee, the Minister for Justice, and Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, are also mooted as possible leaders of the party.