Michael O’Leary has warned against a “liquorice allsorts” coalition, claiming that it could damage the country’s fragile recovery.
The Ryanair boss predicted that another election would take place within a year but said the instability could damage investment.
Confidence among Irish business leaders has fallen since the election, according to a survey by the accountancy firm Mazars.
No party leader is expected to win enough votes to be elected taoiseach on March 10, when the 32nd Dail gathers for the first time.
Mr O’Leary said that the uncertainty around the political system was not helpful for investment.
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“I don’t think we’ll see political stability soon — the outcome of the election is a mess. I think it’s inevitable we’ll have another election within 12 months,” Mr O’Leary said. “Ireland, given the fragile nature of our economy, can’t survive with either a minority government or a coalition of liquorice allsorts. We need a stable government and I think we won’t get one based on the results last weekend.”
He described the prospect of a minority government or coalition formed between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael as unlikely.
“Logically, whether it is in one or two more elections’ time, you are going to see Sinn Fein on the left getting stronger and stronger, which means Fianna Fail and Fine Gael will coalesce and move to the centre right.
“You have the radical left of Sinn Fein and some of the other lunatics out there, but actually Ireland might be better serviced by having a right-left debate so that instead of the left sitting there in opposition being against everything, they actually have to come up with some credible policies which they have none of at the moment.
To be able to invest you want to have clarity for the next three or four years. We would like to see a stable government in the republic; it helps businesses to invest for the long term.”
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More than 300 company directors and senior managers from a cross-section of business sectors responded to a survey undertaken by Mazars on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Forty-nine per cent of respondents said that their business confidence had decreased since the election.
Only 2 per cent said that it had increased; a further 49 per cent said their business confidence remained the same after the election; and 52 per cent have an expectation of greater economic recovery if a minority government is formed with the support of independents.
Enda Kenny’s message about economic recovery resonated well with businesses. Seventy per cent of those questioned said that they would like to see Fine Gael hold the majority of cabinet positions in the next Dail, with only 21 per cent expressing a preference for Fianna Fail.
Mark Kennedy, Mazars’ managing partner, said that keeping confidence levels high relied on parties coming together to form a government.
“It’s clear from this survey that the business community is less confident, and the outcome of the general election has created significant uncertainty,” he said. “Investment decisions are driven by sentiment as well as business logic. There is a strong message here for our politicians — you need to act quickly and form a government to maintain the confidence of the entrepreneurs and business leaders who are driving job creation and business activity.”