Taoiseach Simon Harris has said he has decided on a pre-Christmas general election because he believes "now is the time for a mandate" for his term as Taoiseach.
Speaking at a British Irish Chamber of Commerce event at Dublin's Royal Convention Centre tonight, the Taoiseach responded to questions over whether the Government has gone "full term" by saying: "I got a sense from people to just get on with it."
Asked in on-stage interview with The Currency co-founder and business journalist Tom Lyons if the general election will be on 29 November, the Taoiseach said that "there isn't a great mystery" to when the election will be and that "you don't need huge powers" to figure out the date.
He said the Finance Bill still needs to be passed so that budget plans are introduced, and that he has already said "it [the general election] will be a Friday".
Mr Harris said a general election in the coming weeks will also allow for government-formation talks to take place during the Dáil's already-planned winter break, which he described as "a natural breather".
Mr Lyons jokingly asked again if this means the 29 November, the Taoiseach said "I have to keep some element of surprise."
In relation to the upcoming US election, Mr Harris has said it is the most "consequential to world affairs" in living memory.
The Taoiseach said there is significant interest on the outcome of the presidential vote in two weeks time.
He said he does not want to "involve myself" in US politics so close to the presidential election.
However, he told the audience "there has probably not been a US election that is so consequential to world affairs" in living memory.
Asked how the presidential election result could impact on Ireland, the Taoiseach said "politics is the art of the possible" and that "we'll work with whoever becomes president of the US".
Earlier, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland told the conference that the new British government's commitment to the Good Friday Agreement is "absolute".
In his speech in Dublin, Labour MP Hilary Benn also criticised the previous Conservative governments for what he said was the "reckless approach of previous [British] governments" towards Northern Ireland.
He said: "What I want to make very clear is that our commitment to the Good Friday Agreement is absolute."
Mr Benn said it should "not be necessary" to say, but that the "reckless approach of previous governments" means a rebuilding of relations is required.
Mr Benn also took aim at potential future Conservative Party leaders, saying he is "astonished" that any politician "would advocate leaving the European convention on human rights", saying anyone "who understands Northern Ireland" and its history realises the importance of the convention.
The Taoiseach told the conference that he "breathed such a huge sigh of relief" when Labour leader Keir Starmer was elected British prime minister, as it meant someone who saw himself as a "co-guarantor" of the Good Friday Agreement had returned to Downing Street.
Mr Harris said his comments do not mean he is interfering with British politics and that he also had a strong working relationship with former British prime minister Rishi Sunak.
UK ambassador to Ireland supportive of 'challenge' in rebuilding relations
Mr Benn was speaking at an event which also heard from British ambassador to Ireland Paul Johnston.
Mr Johnston said after recent years he is supportive of the "good challenge" of helping to oversee improving relations between Ireland and Britain.
He added that in his view "the world is a complex, messy place" and that it is important modern democracies like Ireland and our nearest neighbour have a positive relationship with each other and work together to build it.
Earlier Mr Benn said the Labour Party was in the process of repealing and replacing the Legacy Act and is committed to restoring inquests that were "brought to a crashing halt by the Legacy Act".
Mr Benn urged people to have a little more patience and said he understood the pain, hurt and desire for answers that families of victims have.
A number of Troubles victims' families have said they felt betrayed after it was confirmed that the Labour government is set to challenge a Court of Appeal ruling on the controversial act.
He said this is a complex judgement and the government needs more time to consider its response.
He insisted that immunity was gone and that they would bring back civil cases and restore those inquests that were shut down by the Legacy Act.
"I've met many families and I understand completely the pain and the hurt and the desire for answers that they have because of what happened to their loved ones," Mr Benn told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"But we haven't resiled one iota from the commitment we made to repeal and replace the Legacy Act, but it is a very, very complex judgment. It raises a lot of issues, and the government needs a bit more time to consider how we're going to respond."
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Mr Benn told families of victims of the Troubles that the Independent Commission will be human rights compliant.
He said there are currently eight investigations underway with the Commission.
When asked about the number of outstanding cases, he said it was still early days.
"If you abolish the Commission, which people are urging the government to do, you would waste all of the money gone into its establishment," he said.
"You would bring to a clashing halt the eight cases that they have already started, four families who've lived with pain, lack of knowledge about what happened.
"But you'd end up creating an organisation that would look very much like what we have at the moment and what is the purpose of doing that?"
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Mr Benn urged families to talk to the Commission.
He said he agreed to an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane because it was honouring a commitment made by a previous Labour government.
He said the Independent Commission has the same power as a public inquiry to get all the information it requires and question witnesses.
He said that he had spoken to the family of Sean Brown and urged them to talk to the Commission.
Mr Benn denied that he was creating a hierarchy of victims and reiterated that the Pat Finucane case was honouring a previous commitment.
"I understand that there are people who are opposed, but I would ask the families just to reflect," he said.
"There is now a government which has got rid of conditional immunity - which was part of the Legacy Act that was so widely opposed - which has committed to restore civil cases... that will restore inquests, starting with those that were terminated and that is a very, very different proposition to what the Legacy Act was putting in place."
