The Fianna Fail leader was elected for a second time after the chaos in the Irish Parliament subsided.
Michael Martin was elected Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland for the second time.
Lawmakers voted 95 to 76 in favor of the Fianna Fail leader’s nomination on Thursday.
Martin will lead a coalition government made up of the two largest center-right parties, in addition to independent lawmakers.
His nomination was delayed by a day after the initial vote to elect him descended into chaos on Wednesday, with Parliament suspended after opposition protests on the right to speak of independent legislators supporting the new coalition. The impasse over the right to expression was broken overnight during negotiations.
The coalition is the second in a row between historic rivals Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who between them have led every government since 1937. The independent ministers, meanwhile, will replace the Green Party, junior coalition partner, which lost most of its seats in 1937. last November election.
Martin, 64, served as prime minister from 2020 to 2022 before handing over the post to Fine Gael for the second half of the term. Under the coalition agreement, outgoing Prime Minister Simon Harris is expected to return as Prime Minister in 2027.
For now, Harris will replace Martin as deputy prime minister and is also expected to take over as foreign minister. Separately, Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe – chair of the Eurozone group of finance ministers – is expected to return as finance minister.
Ireland is preparing for the economic consequences of the back by US President Donald Trump, whose promise to cut corporate taxes poses a potential threat to the country’s multinational-driven foreign economy.
“For us today, the task is to protect Ireland’s strength at a time of real threat, while also meeting critical social needs. By any reasonable measure, this is a difficult moment in world history,” an emotional Martin told Parliament after his election.
He said it was essential to protect and renew the Irish economic model to strengthen “three essential relationships” with Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom.
“We are not naive to the realities of change [in the US]but the relationship between Ireland and America benefits both equally and it will emerge strongly whatever happens.
The coalition has pledged to use windfall tax revenues from the US multinational group to continue to increase public sector investment and cut taxes, while strengthening Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund.
Martin, who was first elected to Parliament 36 years ago, was a senior member of the Fianna Fail government which signed a deal European Union and IMF bailout plan in 2010, which led to an unprecedented electoral collapse in 2011, just after his accession to the head of the country.
The former history teacher, who oversaw several ministries including health, commerce and education, quickly restored the party’s fortunes to return Fianna Fail to power nine years later.
