The position of Tanaiste Frances Fitzgerald in the Irish cabinet has been shaky after the opposition party demanded her to step down due to a continuing whistleblower scandal. Fitzgerald has allegedly lied about being unaware of a 2015 clash between the then Police Commissioner's legal team and Maurice McCabe, a whistleblower accusing the police of malpractice.
READ MORE: Irish Deputy Prime Minister Resigns Amid Police Whistleblower Scandal — Reports
The resignation reportedly comes hours before a Parliamentary vote of no confidence was set to take place on the Government of Conservative PM Leo Varadkar, who leads a minority government.
Fitzerald's resignation would remove the threat of the government collapsing and forcing an early general election which would complicate Brexit talks with the UK, Professor Roger MacGinty of the University of Manchester told Sputnik.
"This makes a collapse of government and an election less likely. No one wanted a new election so her resignation will probably allow the government to stay in place."
"The expectation is that she is going to resign. But no it doesn't mean the collapse of the government — rather the opposite. It means there will be no vote of no confidence and also no Christmas election," Professor Adrian Guelke of Queen's University College Belfast told Sputnik.
READ MORE: Irish Get Tough With Britain Over Brexit: No Border Deal, No Trade Talk
The opposition party spokesman told RTE radio that Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin "has put huge personal effort into resolving this issue and averting a general election — and it looks like that may well have been achieved."
The Brexit negotiations between Britain and Ireland have reached a critical stage, with both refusing to back down over their red lines. Dublin has threatened it will veto any UK-EU trade agreement if it doesn't have assurances there will be no hard border with Northern Ireland and London has said Northern Ireland will not remain in the Single Market, Customs Union or any special arrangement different from the rest of the UK.
