Tanaiste Joan Burton has said the political marriage between Sinn Féin and left-wing parties and Independents is over before it began.

She was reacting to the news that Sinn Féin had signed up to back the broad policy principles of the anti-water charges movement.

“I saw that some of the groups are going to transfer and others are not going to have anything to do with some of the groups that they’re now in an alliance with today,” she said.

“So it sounds a bit as though before the parties even got to the altar they kind of fell out, maybe before they even got into the church, or wherever the union was going to be celebrated.”

Ms Burton was visiting a senior citizens' centre in Swords in north county Dublin.

Ms Burton said some of those involved in the pact wanted a significant increase in employers’ PRSI.

She said the country needed strong pro-employment policies, with social and economic progress.