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The leaders of Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and the Green Party have had a \u201cconstructive meeting\u201d as part of the latest talks aimed at forming a coalition government.<\/p>\nThe leaders of Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and the Green Party have had a \u201cconstructive meeting\u201d as part of the latest talks aimed at forming a coalition government.<\/p>\n
The meeting at Agriculture House in Dublin ended this evening.<\/p>\n
A Fianna F\u00e1il spokesperson said Miche\u00e1l Martin, Leo Varadkar and Eamon Ryan had \u201cmade progress with many outstanding issues\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll parties will continue the talks tomorrow,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n
The pension age, policy over carbon emissions, agriculture and housing are believed to be among the final sticking points.<\/p>\n
The three parties are also speaking to groups of independent TDs to try to secure their support, some 120 days since February\u2019s inconclusive general election.<\/p>\n
There has been speculation that a deal could be announced on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Fine Gael\u2019s Martin Heydon described the process to date as \u201clengthy\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe negotiating team and staff have worked morning, noon and night over the last number of weeks,\u201d he told RTE, adding \u201cgood progress\u201d had been made on Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there is still some really significant outstanding areas as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be hopeful that we could get an agreement before next weekend but it\u2019s by no means guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fianna F\u00e1il\u2019s Marc MacSharry said \u201cwhat is important now is that the negotiations come to a conclusion\u201d.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cIt has involved compromise so far, there are still some difficult issues outstanding but we\u2019re very hopeful they can be dealt with.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re all hopeful, it\u2019s in everyone\u2019s interests including the nation as a whole, that we have a program for government that\u2019s capable of facing the enormous challenges that we face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in TD David Cullinane has criticized the potential coalition government as \u201cnot representing the type of change people voted for\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is zero chance of parties who have been in power since the foundation of the state bringing about the real and transformative change that we need to see happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Green Party leader Eamon Ryan is set to face a challenge after his deputy declared she will run against him in a leadership race.<\/p>\n
However, Catherine Martin said she will not run against Mr Ryan until after the government formation talks process has concluded.<\/p>\n