Social Democrats pledge 'more focused' talks on Government formation with four other parties

"At a meeting of the Social Democrats parliamentary party this morning, a decision was taken to continue talks with the four parties we have already engaged with - Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and Labour," he said in a statement.

"These talks have been exploratory to date but I expect that next week they will become more focused - particularly on the dealbreakers we highlighted during the election campaign."

"In continuing these talks, the Social Democrats are delivering on a commitment we gave to the electorate to talk to every party after the election with a view to forming a government and delivering on our mandate," Mr O'Callaghan said.

"We reported that the meetings had been positive and constructive with a good exchange of views."

Read at Irish Independent