Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Everybody who has been elected here is a winner, but the fact is, to do the maths, the winners were Sinn Féin, our colleagues in the Green Party, the Social Democrats and every party who said to the people there is a different and a better way to do government. I know in voting for us people said we want to give you the chance, we have seen the shambles, the same old same old same, the same problems persisting generation to generation on the watch of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and they said, "Sinn Féin, show us what you're made of. Get in there, perform and deliver".

The real winners in the midst of all this need to be the people. That is what this is all about. I have not heard anybody ask Deputy Micheál Martin to stay quiet. Although I suggest that some in his party might proffer that advice to him. The reason the issue of mandate is such a big deal is because two parties – but let it be said, Fianna Fáil in particular – have decided, in an arrogant, dismissive, self-righteous way, to disregard entirely the representatives of more than 500,000 people.

I will be honest: I do not really care what Deputy Micheál Martin thinks about me. I care less what he thinks about Sinn Féin. I will not take personal offence at that. What I will not tolerate and what is grossly offensive is to suggest to the citizens who vote for us that somehow uniquely their representatives are to be left in perpetuity on the sidelines because Deputy Michéal Martin does not like us.

We could extol the past. We could all write books on that. We could all trade hurts and insults. That gets us nowhere. As a matter of fact mechanisms to deal with legacy and the past have been agreed. Deputy Micheál Martin should know this, I know that Deputy Varadkar knows this. They need to be legislated for. Rather than all of the bile that Deputy Micheál Martin exudes, the constructive thing to do is to commit his party to moving those structures forward and to get the British Government on board for that. The most important thing that needs to happen now is a serious attempt to form a new Government.

Many people will speculate about what change means with regard to forming a Government. We have spoken about this before and share this view with colleagues. My first preference is for a left-leaning, progressive Government without Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael. We will continue to work for that. I also recognise that the very worst possible outcome from this election is Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael being back in government together. Not only do I think that would be a disastrous outcome, I will wager that the vast majority of people would regard that as a step backwards. I am very clear that is not what people voted for.

I propose that we actually listen to what people have said in a generalised way about change, a new beginning and moving forward, then in a very specific way about specific policy items. We need to talk to each other about those things. If Deputy Micheál Martin is concerned about the democratic practices within my party, I am deeply concerned by a party and a leader who sat around a Cabinet table with people who were subsequently jailed for corruption. I have a problem with that and I think that most reasonable people have a problem with that. I trust that that is no longer the case within Fianna Fáil and I am sure that we will be assured that it is not the case. I also know that if one keeps reaching desperately for the past, it really says that one is not up for the future. It says that there is something profoundly wrong, arrogant and dysfunctional in one's political positioning. I hope that Deputy Martin will change that position but perhaps he will not. Whether he does or not, the people who vote for us are not going anywhere. They live here. They deserve good government and the respect of being heard. Nobody, including Deputies Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar, will disrespect the people whom we represent. We have made a commitment to them to represent them well and to make our very best effort to deliver that Government of change. That is precisely what we intend to do.

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