Coveney survives Sinn Féin no confidence motion

Minister for Foreign Affairs had the support of 92 TDs while 59 voted against him, including rebel backbencher Marc MacSharry who resigned from the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party

Simon Coveney said he wanted to sincerely thank his colleagues for their support even though they had been ‘less than impressed’ with his handling of the issue. Picture: Rollingnews.ie

Simon Coveney, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, comfortably survived the Sinn Féin no confidence motion despite the decision of rebel Fianna Fáil backbencher Marc MacSharry to vote against him.

The government had always expected that it might lose MacSharry, the Sligo-Leitrim TD, at some stage due to his clear dissatisfaction with Fianna Fáil’s leader Micheál Martin and the party’s performance in government.

MacSharry removed any suspense by releasing a letter announcing his resignation from the ...