 FitzGerald, no longer having a majority in the Dáil, went to Áras an Uachtaráin, to advise President Hillery to dissolve the Dáil and call a general election.However, the night the government collapsed the Fianna Fáil Front Bench issued a statement encouraging the President not to grant the dissolution and to allow Fianna Fáil to form a government.Phone calls were also made to the President by Brian Lenihan.