‘I think 29th (November) is the date to go’ – Roderic O’GormanTánaiste expects clarity in the next week: ‘I’m not going to get into specific dates’‘It seems to me if Roderic is anxious to get it early’ – Martin
Mr O’Gorman told reporters in Dublin that it was his preference to hold the election before Christmas.
“I think the 29th is the date to go,” he said.
He said he has yet to discuss the date with the other leaders of the coalition.
Mr O’Gorman said he was “starting to get the sense people are getting a little tired, maybe, of the ‘will they, won’t they?’”
He added: “Probably now is the time to give some degree of certainty to the Irish people in terms of the election date.
“I’ll be meeting the coalition with the two coalition leaders on Monday. What I’ll be saying to them is that I think we need to give clarity.
“And I will be saying my preference is for a November election for the 29,” he said.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin agreed that clarity was needed and said “this is something that we can deal with next week”.
He said “there will be clarity” on an election date but Taoiseach Simon Harris “will have something to say as well and I respect that”.
“I’m not going to get into specific dates. I think I’ve already made my position known earlier in the week in terms of the next general election,” he said.
Mr Martin said it was important for legislative work to be done and the Finance Bill still needs to “be done properly”.
“It seems to me if Roderic is anxious to get it early, obviously the Taoiseach will have a view as well, but to me the Finance Bill is key and that puts flesh on the bone of the Budget.”
He would not be drawn on the specific date of November 29 suggested by Mr O’Gorman and asked if the Green Party leader had “overstepped” he said “politics is politics”.
Mr O’Gorman added that late November would give time to get important pieces of legislation through
“It looks like we’ll get the maternity protection bill, a bill I’ve been leading to allow women with a serious illness to defer their maternity leave.
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“We’ll get that through next week, along with the hate crime legislation, which I set out as a key priority for ourselves in the Green Party, and then obviously, with the Finance Act.
“I think we can get those done over the next three weeks, in early November, and my view is that the election should be November 29 – get it out of the way before Christmas.”
The Greens have 12 TDs at the moment, when asked how many the party will return with, he replied: “All of them and more.”
Earlier this week, Taoiseach Simon Harris said he is considering what date would be “the best interest for Ireland” while refusing to be drawn on whether that would be before Christmas.
The Fine Gael leader had previously said the Government should “go full term” before an election is called.
While it is the constitutional prerogative of the Taoiseach to decide the date of the general election, Mr Harris has said he will consult the coalition leaders in advance of any announcement.
On Wednesday, Tánaiste Micheál Martin appeared more open to the possibility of a pre-Christmas election if the Finance Bill is passed.
Mr Martin said his view remained that the Government has “work to complete” but added that the gap between November and February “isn’t huge”.
Speaking at the same event, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said the Government had significant work left to do but added: “I think it can be done in the timeframe that has been outlined by Roderic.”
Asked if he would like the election to be on November 29, the Fianna Fail TD said: “I’m not getting into speculation on dates – that’s above my pay grade.”
He added: “Everyone knows an election is in a matter of weeks or months anyways.”
As the minister with the responsibility for setting the length of the campaign between 21 and 28 days, he said would be guided by the final decision of the three coalition leaders.
