The Irish parliament will resume on Wednesday with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin set to return as taoiseach for a second time.
The 35th Dáil (Irish parliament) will see Martin elected as taoiseach (prime minister), replacing Fine Gael leader Simon Harris who will return as tánaiste (deputy prime minister).
Fianna Fáil – the largest party – has formed a government with Fine Gael and a range of independent regional Teachtaí Dála (TDs) after November’s election.
Sinn Féin remain the largest opposition party after winning 39 seats. Fianna Fáil gained 48 seats while Fine Gael was third with 38 seats.
Martin and Harris confirmed the new draft programme for government earlier this month.
The deal paved the way for the next government and was successfully endorsed by both parties in recent days.
Speaking after his party endorsed the programme for government, Martin said there was a “strong commitment” on behalf of his party to deliver for the Irish people.
“I can assure you, we will spare no effort in working selflessly on behalf of the people of Ireland to deliver this programme for government, to make things better for people and to improve the quality of life as we navigate very turbulent global waters,” he said.
Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ruled out Sinn Féin as a coalition partner, which party leader Mary Lou McDonald called “bad practice”.
This is the first time the new government will sit after November’s election, with government negotiations taking around five weeks to complete.
The new Dáil has already been the source of controversy after a number of independent TDs including Michael Lowry, Danny Healy-Rae, Barry Heneghan and Gillian Toole, who support the government, wish to sit and speak from opposition benches.
The new Ceann Comhairle (speaker) – also a regional independent – Verona Murphy, who is the first woman to hold the role, told TDs she would consider submissions opposing the plan, but permitted the group to “provisionally” take their original seats for now.
All other opposition groups are against the idea, labelling it as having a foot in both camps and taking time away from those who wish to scrutinise the government.
As part of Wednesday’s Dáil return, Martin will travel to the Áras an Uachtaráin about 13:00 local time to meet Irish President Michael D Higgins in the state reception room.
The president will then sign the warrant of appointment and hand the seal of the taoiseach and the seal of government to Martin.
Later, at about 20:00, the appointment of members of the government will begin.
The president will sign the warrant of appointment for the members of the government and the warrant of appointment of the attorney general, each of which will be countersigned by the taoiseach.
The president will then present each minister in turn with their seal of office.
