Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will be quick as I can. I join the Taoiseach and other Deputies in congratulating those who organised the events surrounding the 1916 commemorations. The way in which it was conducted was absolutely incredible. I would particularly like to congratulate RTE on its role. It often gets a lot of criticism but it played a fantastic role. We should all also acknowledge the role of the Defence Forces. I acknowledge the work of the 2016 team, particularly the co-ordinator, John Concannon, who was the right man for the job and did an incredible job.

The Tánaiste has outlined Labour's decision regarding the vote on the Taoiseach today. I will not go into that as we are short of time. It has been six weeks since the election, and I have spoken about the 1916 commemorations, but by and large the public is now concentrating on what we are doing in this House. They have moved on, we have had our space and what we have seen to date has been a bit of a charade. We have seen a bit of flirting, we have seen negotiations going on between Fianna Fáil and Independents, Fine Gael and Independents, and we have had a version of Lanigan's Ball: I stepped in and he stepped out again. Then there were negotiations through Instagram and Twitter. Deputy Micheál Martin would update us all through Twitter or Deputy Mattie McGrath would go on another radio station, looking for more attention. What we have had is a pantomime, and the public is not laughing. What has been generated has shown that within that pantomime there is very little difference between the two principal participants, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. We are looking forward to seeing the flirting finish and the courtship start this evening, and hopefully we will all be back in a few weeks' time with a Government that is stable and a marriage that we can all witness.

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