INDEPENDENT TD MICHAEL Healy-Rae has confirmed that he and his brother Danny met with Taoiseach Enda Kenny in Dublin yesterday.
The popular Kerry TD, who received 20,378 first preference votes last week was re-elected to the Dáil alongside his brother Danny who was elected for the first time.
Speaking on RTÉ’s The Late Late Show last night, Healy-Rae confirmed that he had been approached by Enda Kenny and had spoken to him that day.
“The Taoiseach coincided [us being in Dublin] with asking to meet us and we met with him for over an hour just to discuss,” he said.
Healy-Rae declined to go into the particulars of the meeting with the Taoiseach, but said that the ‘gist’ of it was about forming a government.
“The gist is he realises that there is a situation to be dealt with – that is forming a government and running the country,” said Healy-Rae.
What happened in the election? The Taoiseach went before the country along with Labour saying he wanted a mandate to run the country.
He lost the election; he and Labour lost the election.
Healy-Rae said that there was now a duty on every elected official to form a government and that meetings and discussions would have to take place in this regard.
“They’re all elected now, they all have their own mandate; they should be coming together – talking, discussing things and trying to iron out things and forming a government,” he said.
When questioned by host Ryan Tubridy on whether the brothers would find it easier to form a government with Fianna Fáil as they come from the same “gene pool”, Healy-Rae had this to say.
“Don’t mind your gene pool now for a minute.”
The people that voted or us – the good people that voted for us, they were Labour, they were Fianna Fáil, they were Independent, they were Sinn Féin – they were from every category.
We’re independent and we’re accepting the support we get from all quarters and we will do whatever is right and best for the people of Kerry.
Rural affairs minister
Michael Healy-Rae also spoke of the need to have a minister of rural affairs to look after and take care of people outside of Dublin.
“The first thing an incoming government will have to do is they will have to have a post for a senior Minister of Rural Affairs,” he said.
This would be to put an end to “this thing that the world stops at the Red Cow Roundabout.”
However, speaking today, Healy-Rae turned himself down for the role of the rural affairs minister.
Both the Healy-Rae brothers stressed the importance of a stable government throughout the interview.
“We want to have something that is going to be stable but we want it to be representative of the views of the people.”
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