Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has suggested Micheál Martin will want 'to go first' at being Taoiseach in a new government with Fine Gael.
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have sent a ten-point document to smaller parties trying to get them on board with a coalition.
Both Micheál Martin and Leo Varadkar have said they'd be equal partners in any new government - indicating that the two leaders could share a 'rotating Taoiseach' role.
However, they've both said they'd need a third party on-board to secure a Dáil majority.
Speaking on The Pat Kenny Show, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern says it will be hard to get a third party on board - and when they do, Micheál Martin will want to be Taoiseach first in any arrangement.
Mr Ahern observed: "Micheál will say he's the biggest party, and if I was Micheál I'd also say I'm almost 60. As former Fianna Fáil leaders go and Fianna Fáil people as taoiseach go... that's old.
"I'm sure he will want to go first, and I don't blame him for that."
File photo of Bertie Ahern and Michéal Martin in 2005. Photo: Leon Farrell/RollingNews.ieHowever, Mr Ahern said he believes Leo Varadkar will remain in the job for the next few weeks amid the current coronavirus crisis - and praised the Fine Gael leader for "doing a good job in bringing us through that".
He also suggested it would 'make sense' for Simon Harris to remain in his current role, arguing that the Health Minister has been doing a "really good job" during the pandemic.
He said: "It is ironic that the reason we ended up with a February 8th election because a confidence motion in Simon was put down pre-Christmas, and because the Government couldn't get through they opted to go for an early election.
"The person who that confidence motion was in is the person whose been doing a really good job in the last few months... but that's how politics flips around."
'You need at least one other party'
The former Fianna Fáil leader said it's not going to be easy to 'pull in' other parties, and that even Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael getting a framework document in the first place wasn't an easy task.
He told Pat: "12 [TDs] from the Greens would make it easier... you need a clear majority.
"I think just Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and just the independents, while that's very important... it's not enough, and it's not stable enough.
"You need at least one other party - personally I'd love to see if there were two, because then you have people working together."
He argued that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will have to give two or three Cabinet seats to any smaller parties who come on board, as that's a 'precedent' set by the Progressive Democrats in past coalitions.
Mr Ahern said that while Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are similar parties and historical differences are far in the past, it is 'still difficult' for the two traditional rivals to come together.
However, he said: "Relationships have changed - it's not so black and white as it used to be at one time. I think the confidence and supply has brought people really close.
"These things have changed and mellowed a lot.
"The membership of Fianna Fáil, which I would know best... I don't think they go around holding huge grudges and huge animosity."
He also observed that he himself doesn't have many 'hang-ups' about any FF/FG arrangements, and that it's more important for people to work together.
Mr Ahern also said it's better for politicians to be 'around the table' in government than finishing their life in politics having only been in opposition.
