Ireland’s parliament has delayed a vote on the prime minister after he spoke a line on rights | Political Affairs

The process of appointing a new prime minister led to the spread of chaos and conflict.

Lawmakers in the Republic of Ireland have abandoned an attempt to appoint a new prime minister amid a bitter row over parliamentary procedure.

Chaotic conditions in parliament on Wednesday meant that the appointment of Michael Martin, of Fianna Fail, would have to wait until at least Thursday.

The speaker of the Dail, or Dail, set up the committee for the fourth time after the Sinn Fein party expressed anger at plans to allow independent MPs, some of whom support the incoming government, to join them on the opposition benches.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Fianna Fail wanted to “put their independent supporters, supporters of the government, on the opposition benches and give them the same speaking rights as the opposition parties”.

After Ireland’s November 29 election, a coalition agreement was reached last week between the country’s two main right-wing parties and a group of independent lawmakers. Martin’s party won more seats, but not enough to rule alone.

Fianna Fail won 48 of the 174 seats and Fine Gael won 38. The two parties share similar right-wing policies even though they clashed during Ireland’s bloody civil war in the 1920s.

Under the coalition agreement, Martin is expected to be prime minister – or taoiseach – for three years, with Fine Gael’s Simon Harris, the outgoing leader, as his deputy. The two politicians would exchange jobs until the end of the five-year term.

The governing deal excludes leftist Sinn Fein, which will remain in opposition despite winning 39 seats.

Fine Gael and Fianna Fail have refused to work with them because of their historic ties to the Irish Republican Army (IRA) during decades of violence in Northern Ireland.

The new government is under huge pressure to ease rising homelessness, driven by rising rents and property costs, and to better absorb the growing number of people seeking shelter.

The cost of living – particularly Ireland’s massive housing crisis – was a prominent topic in the election campaign, and immigration has become an emotive and challenging issue in a country of 5.4 million people that has long been defined by migration.