“Here’s where things get interesting.”
Over at CommentisFree Fintan O’Toole [no relation - Ed] looks at the likely contenders for a coalition government should Fianna Fáil not achieve the necessary 84 seats.. a possibility he doesn’t entirely rule out.
Nevertheless, the easiest option for Fianna Fáil may be an alliance with the Greens. As a smaller party than Labour, the Greens would get fewer cabinet seats. And their agenda, though radical in its own way, might be narrow enough to be contained within one area of government, leaving Fianna Fáil free to dominate the next five years. The one stumbling block might be the fact that the Greens were the party most critical of Bertie Ahern’s personal ethics over the course of the campaign. But given the evidence that the electorate doesn’t give a damn about ethics so long as the money keeps rolling around the economy, that’s not likely to be too high a hurdle.
Pete,
He still has Mahon to come so Bertie needs a party willing to ride it out. I doubt the Greens would do it for scraps.
They only need 83 seats for an overall majority Pete as convention has it that the Ceann Comhairle votes with the government if the vote is tied. Plus the CC is a FF TD.
FF-Greens?
Would that be the first time an all-Ireland party formed part of the Dublin government?
Bertie will go to the PD’s first before he approaches the ‘untested ‘ Greens . Both Mary Harney and Mc Dowell have been effective Ministers. So where are all the ‘rainbows’ then ? It never rains bit it pours eh
Another well deserved win for hat trick Bertie:)
Enda Kenny has saved FG from extinction . SF now know what a real election looks like ! Labour will need a new leader. Well done people of the Republic !
Well done to both fianna fail and Fine gael- neither would roll over for SF. The SF writ now stops at the border. Thank God
If Trevor Sergeant gets a call from Bertie he should get around to Merrion Row pronto . This could be his best chance to create a higher profile for the Greens and to solidify their small base. Interesting times ahead this weekend . Mc Dowell is still hanging on ~