SINN FEIN is ready for government, Mary Lou McDonald told her party’s annual conference on Saturday as she accused Fianna Fail and Fine Gael of being “out of touch, out of ideas and out of time.”

She pledged that her party would fix Ireland’s housing and healthcare and warned that “the writing is on the wall” for the governing coalition as Sinn Fein continues to lead the polls.

“Things were bad enough when these parties pretended to oppose each other,” Ms McDonald said. “But by God things have gone to the dogs since the boys clubbed together.”

She promised that Sinn Fein would deliver a government for the people and said it was time for an administration that puts workers and families first.

“We want to lead that government,” Ms McDonald said. “And I want to lead as taoiseach, if you give us that chance.”

The republican leader said Sinn Fein would not make the mistake of failing to field enough candidates in the next election.

She said that her party was also preparing to lead in Northern Ireland, with polling promising before next year’s Assembly election.

A Sinn Fein victory would breathe fresh impetus into the case for a united Ireland, and Ms McDonald said that there is now an onus on the Irish government to prepare for a referendum on the matter.