Sinn Féin is expected to put a name forward for the ceann comhairle’s position when the Dáil meets again next week.
With Fianna Fáil’s John McGuinness and outgoing ceann comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl also said to be seeking the nomination, the move from Sinn Féin will increase competition for the speaker’s position in the 34th Dáil.
Sinn Féin’s leader Mary Lou McDonald is understood to have told members of her parliamentary party on Thursday of its intentions. She also reported back on her engagement with other parties as government formation talks advance - but told TDs and Senators that the numbers in the Dáil allow Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to form a government with the support of Independents.
The Regional Independents, a technical group whose members are seen as the most likely source of Independent support for a new Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition, has nominated Wexford TD Verona Murphy for the position in advance of the secret ballot which will be held next Wednesday.
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Sinn Féin sources indicated that the nomination could tease out a sense of the underlying support in the Dáil for a candidate from outside the expected coalition parties, and by extension, the support - albeit in a secret ballot - for a government not led by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
As the longest continually serving Sinn Féin TD, Aengus Ó Snodaigh from Dublin South Central is seen as a potential candidate, but party figures said no decision on a candidate has been made.
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The Social Democrats will continue engaging with other parties on government formation, the party decided on Thursday at a meeting of its TDs.
Following initial engagement with other political parties, there had been speculation that the newly-enlarged party would leave government formation talks.
However, sources said that there had been positive engagements with Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and the Labour Party and that it would seek to set up more meetings for the days ahead.
The Social Democrats have outlined five key red line issues for government formation talks - including 50,000 affordable homes over five years, the full implementation of the Sláintecare model of healthcare reform, a senior disabilities minister, overhauling the climate action plan and a public childcare model.
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While sources characterised the talks as preliminary, it is felt that there may be initial stumbling blocks with Fianna Fáil over emissions - especially the contribution of agriculture to meeting climate targets - and an expectation that the Social Democrats and Fine Gael’s perspectives on personal taxation and tax cuts may diverge significantly.
It has been a bruising week for the party, which saw its 11 member parliamentary party reduced by one after it suspended Dublin Bay South TD Eoin Hayes following controversy over when he divested shares held in a company he formerly worked for, which has since gone on to supply software to the Israeli Defence Forces.
The party met with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on Wednesday, including the leaders of both respective parties, Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Taoiseach Simon Harris, as well as their deputy leaders and heads of their negotiating teams, Minister for Finance Jack Chambers and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.
In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, the party said that it had agreed to continue talks.
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