Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Members in the House for their good wishes. There is an obligation on each one of us as elected Deputies to try to form a Government. Some people decided to sit back and not engage in it. Others stepped up to their responsibility. These were people such as Deputies Michael Collins, Mattie McGrath, Noel Grealish, Michael Harty and me. We spent the past 70 days engaging with both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael trying to put a Government together. As a result, we now have, I think for the first time since 1948, Independents in Cabinet. The last one to fill that role was a fellow county man of mine, James Dillon.

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