SINN FÉIN PRESIDENT Mary Lou McDonald has accused Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil of “clinging to each other” to stay in power.

It comes as Leo Varadkar, Micheal Martin and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan signed an agreement to form a coalition government more than four months on from February’s inconclusive general election.

While Sinn Féin won the popular vote, it failed to form a left-wing government as it could not secure enough seats to form a majority in the Dáil.

McDonald said her party’s historic win forced Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, “in an act of desperation, to cling to each other in order to cling to power”.

“To those who believed in a changed Ireland, to those who have been let down time and again by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael-led governments, I say this; I hear you, I see you and I stand with you,” McDonald said.

“I know you are impatient with change, I am also impatient for change,” she said.

McDonald added that “many people are disappointed, indeed angry watching Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil push back change”.

I’m not giving up because I believe that we are within touching distance of a better Ireland.

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael can delay change, but they can’t stop it and they won’t stop it.

“Our job now is to keep the ship pointed in the right direction and to keep everyone who shares that vision on board,” she said.

McDonald said that “changing Ireland won’t be easy, but nothing worth having comes easily, a new Ireland is worth having”.

“It’s worth believing in, it’s worth working for, it’s worth all the effort,” the Sinn Féin leader said.

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“Those who benefit from the status quo will now say that the story of change is over, don’t listen to them because the story of change is only just beginning.”

She claimed that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will fail to deliver on public health and affordable homes.

“The question isn’t just what is written in a very long programme for government, the questions is whether or not you can trust Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to deliver change the evidently is required?” she added.

“The answer to that is no, we can’t.”