Responding to the announcement this evening that the Green Party are to enter negotiations with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, Sinn Féin for TD Cavan/Monaghan Matt Carthy has said:

“Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been working to a plan to exclude Sinn Féin from government and to ignore our mandate for some time.

“Both of them in government together – no matter who they are propped up by – is not what people voted for and will not deliver the change that people voted for in February’s general election.

“Their record in government together over the past four years shows us exactly what they will do if they get into government again, and if anyone is in any doubt about that, the threat of austerity is at the heart of their recent joint framework document and their joint letter to the Green Party last week.

“What we need is a break from the past, not a repeat of it. That means a fair recovery, and this means rebuilding the economy and investing our way out of recession, delivering universal healthcare, delivering the biggest public housing programme in the State’s history, investing in our forgotten regions and delivering the type of real change required to tackle the climate emergency.”