Ireland is finally set to get a new government led by a familiar face

Veteran politician Micheal Martin set to become Ireland's Prime Minister for second time in coalition government.

Veteran politician Micheal Martin is set to become Ireland’s Prime Minister for a second time on Wednesday (January 22, 2025) when lawmakers formally approve him as head of a coalition government.

The confirmation comes almost two months after an election in which Martin’s Fianna Fail party won the most seats, but not enough to govern alone.

After weeks of talks, the long-dominant centre-right parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael agreed to form a coalition with the support of several independent lawmakers.

Under the deal, Mr. Martin, 64, will be taoiseach, or Prime Minister, for three years, with Fine Gael’s Simon Harris – the outgoing taoiseach – as his deputy. The two politicians will then swap jobs for the rest of the five-year term.

Members of both parties have ratified the government agreement, and Matin is set to be confirmed by members of the Dáil, parliament’s lower house, on Wednesday (January 22, 2025). He will then be formally appointed to the job by President Michael D. Higgins before appointing his Cabinet.

In Ireland’s November 29 election, voters bucked a global trend that saw incumbent governments ousted around the world in 2024. Fianna Fail won 48 of the 174 legislative seats and Fine Gael 38. They’ve secured backing to govern from the mostly conservative Regional Independent Group, which will be given two ministerial positions.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail share broadly similar centre-right policies but a century-old rivalry stemming from their origins on opposing sides of Ireland’s civil war in the 1920s. They formed an alliance after the 2020 election ended in a virtual dead heat.