The Dáil Éireann [Irish parliament] will convene on Thursday for its first sitting since the Irish general election.
Negotiations to form a government in the Republic of Ireland are ongoing after no party was able to secure an outright majority in the February 8 poll.
Fianna Fáil emerged with 38 seats, with Sinn Féin one behind on 37.
The sitting will begin at 12:00 local time, with the name of all the Dáil’s new TDs [members of the Irish parliament] read aloud by the clerk.
TDs must then elect a new speaker [ceann comhairle] before choosing who will be the next Irish prime minister [taoiseach].
The two candidates for the role of speaker are Fianna Fáil’s Seán Ó Fearghaíl, who was the speaker in the previous Dáil, and independent TD Denis Naughten who formerly represented the Fine Gael party. They will be elected via a secret ballot among TDs.
Once the speaker is elected, they will invite nominations for the next taoiseach. Each of the three biggest parties [Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Fine Gael] will likely nominate their leaders, but none are expected to win the majority 80 votes required.
In this case, the Dáil will be adjourned and it is likely that previous taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the Fine Gael party leader, will stay on as a caretaker prime minister until a new taoiseach can be appointed.
Fianna Fáil leader Mícheál Martin and Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald are the others vying for the role of Irish premier.
Both Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have ruled out entering into a coalition with Sinn Féin as negotiations continue.
It is not the first time that there has been a post-election stand-off in the Irish parliament. The last general election in 2016 yielded no majority and it took 70 days for Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil to agree a confidence and supply arrangement which allowed the previous Irish government to form and function.
