Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin is facing further dissent in the ranks following the decision to extend the confidence and supply arrangement with Fine Gael.
Deputy Martin announced the extension in the Dáil yesterday - pointing to the need for stability in the face of the ongoing threat from Brexit.
The extension will see the Government remaining in place for one more budget - with the next general election expected in early 2020.
Yesterday, Deputy Martin refused to clarify what concessions Fine Gael had made in return for another year of support from his party.
Extension
This afternoon, Kilkenny TD John McGuinness said the extension was a mistake - and warned that his party had handed Fine Gael a blank cheque.
He told KFM the decision was made in haste.
"There would have been goals and so on to put in to the agreement itself," he said.
"We have many issues in the context of housing, health and banks and so on.
"None of that seems to have been addressed in any meaningful way. We have not seen sight of any document that relates to this deal."
Brexit threat
In the Dáil yesterday, Deputy Martin said Ireland was "facing a major threat and great uncertainty" due to the ongoing chaos over Brexit and said politicians had a responsibility to "put the national interest ahead of party interests."
"We simply do not believe that the national interest could in any way be served by taking up to four months during next year to schedule and hold an election campaign and then form a government," he said.
"This is why Fianna Fáil will extend a guarantee that government will be able to operate throughout 2019."
"Running scared"
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Sinn Féin housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin said Deputy Martin had agreed to the extension "to save his own skin" because he is "running scared of an election."
"He doesn't want to come second or come third which is the most likely outcome if there is an election in the next six to 12 months - simply because he would lose his job as the leader of the party," he said.
"So he is pretending this is in the national interest but it is really in his own selfish party political interests."
The decision was welcomed as "incredibly responsible" by Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty, while the Tánaiste Simon Coveney said it was good news for the country.
However, the Labour leader Brendan Howlin said it represented a "blank cheque signed for a Government that is doing very little by common consensus" and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald labelled the process a "a charade" and a "make believe piece of theatre."
