The Government has been warned it has been put on "notice to quit" and urged to begin "an orderly wind-down" of the coalition despite Health Minister Simon Harris narrowly surviving a no confidence motion in his tenure. Health Minister Simon HarrisIn all, 49 Fine Gael TDs, four Independent Alliance TDs, Children's Minister Katherine Zappone and unaligned Independent Sean Canney - who are in Government - voted to back Mr Harris. However, despite the Fianna Fáil line, party TD John McGuinness then broke ranks, saying "Brexit or not" the Government's days are coming to an end. "This debate quite clearly is putting the Government on notice, notice to quit. The Government had earlier staunchly defended Mr Harris, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Simon Coveney and Kate O'Connell coming to his aid.

Source: Irish Examiner February 20, 2019 20:37 UTC