Fine Gael’s refusal to call a general election following the Taoiseach’s shock resignation is hypocritical, Sinn Féin has said.

Opposition parties have been united in calling for a vote since Leo Varadkar announced his decision to step down yesterday.

Government parties have insisted an election is not on the cards, however, with the Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan both saying the government should serve its full term.

Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Sinn Féin Finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said Leo Varadkar would be quick to demand an election if the roles were reversed.

“When Brian Cowen in 2010 appointed his new Ministers with the Greens in the autumn of 2010, Leo Varadkar stood up on the floor of the Dáil and demanded that there would be an election,” he said. 

“And demanded they would go to the people and look for a mandate. 

“We’re saying the same thing. If they think they can get a mandate, then let’s let the people decide.” 

Leo Varadkar announces he will step down as Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach.

Deputy Doherty said a third Taoiseach in a single Dáil term has “has never happened” before and Fine Gael is simply “not up to the job” of governing. 

“If they’re confident in their own ability and their own track record, then the people have their say,” he said. 

“Let them decide whether the change that they want is a change of Taoiseach or a change of Government. 

“I’m very convinced it is a change of Government that the people want because they see… Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil’s record on housing, on the health crisis, on issues like disability, on the cost of living pressure that people are facing at this point in time. 

“I am confident, if the people have their say, they will not chose Fine Gael going into conclave with this idea of whose going to be the next Taoiseach of the country.” 

Leinster House.

When asked whether the public would support an early election, Deputy Doherty said he was “very in tune” with opinion in his Donegal constituency. 

“The one demand that we hear over and over again is to get this Government out,” he said. 

“I have no interest in how the Fine Gael’s leader is elected but I do have an interest in how the Taoiseach is elected.” 

Under Article 16.5 of the Constitution, a Dáil term “shall not continue for a longer period than seven years from the date of its first meeting [but] a shorter period may be fixed by law.”

Main image: Pearse Doherty. Picture by: Leah Farrell/Rollingnews.ie