Sinn Féin is to table a motion of no confidence in the Foreign Affairs Minister.

The motion insists that Minister Simon Coveney’s attempt to appoint his former Cabinet colleague Katherine Zappone as a UN special envoy “amounted to cronyism and fell below the standard of government expected by the public.”

It also noted Minister Coveney’s “failure to explain the manner in which the appointment was handled.”

It said the Dáil must take action due to the Taoiseach’s “failure” to sanction Minister Coveney over the appointment.

The party will table the motion when the Dáil returns next Wednesday.

The special envoy role was not publicly advertised and Ms Zappone eventually relinquished it in the wake of controversy over the appointment process.

Controversy over the sage has continued in recent weeks – with Minister Coveney appearing before the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs committee twice on the matter.

Text messages released by the Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday show Ms Zappone texted Minister Coveney for the "incredible opportunity" on Tuesday March 4th noting that she would be proud to serve Ireland again.

That was four months before it was agreed by Cabinet.

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin only found out about it the morning ministers were due to vote on it and both Minister Coveney and the Tánaiste Leo Varadkar have apologised for failing to let him know.

At the Fianna Fáil think-in yesterday, Mr Martin expressed confidence in Minister Coveney – something the Green Party leader Eamon Ryan has also done.

Senior Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness said Mr Martin had allowed the part to become a doormat for Fine Gael and called on him to resign as party leader.

With reporting from Ben Finnegan