Whilst Irish politics can be a bit confusing on account of the relative lack of a traditional right-left split between the two main parties- so I don't pretend to have any real expertise on the subject- surely it is a mistake for the Irish Labour Party to enter a coalition with Fine Gael.
Fianna Fail's traditional dominance has meant that Fine Gael and Labour could only ever govern with each others [insert apostrophe here] support, however in this election the two parties are first and second. So surely this is a unique opportunity for Labour to establish itself as one of the big two by becoming the official opposition to the more conservative Fine Gael. By agreeing to be junior partners in coalition they lose any chance of benefitting from the opposition that will inevitably arise when tough decisions are taken by the new government.
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7 comments:
each others' with a possessive apostrophe at the end, if you don't mind.
From my limited understanding, Fine Gael is centre-right and Labour is centre-left.
If the stars align, that should make them combine to form a "centre" coalition, non?
Or, (more likely), the new shower of bastards will be just as inept as the last shower of bastards.
CR.
CR- Yes, but that means that bizarrely parties to the right and the left of Fianna Fail prefer to form coalitions with each other than with FF.
Either way Ross, Enda Kenny has a mountain to climb and his country cannot afford to equip him for the climb.
This vote was the Irish saying Foxtrot Oscar to Cowen and FF and the EU.
Let's hope they do the right thing and leave the club. Regaining their sovereignty and their dignity is vital.
CR.
CR- The problem is that Fine Gael are even more Europhile than Fianna Fail.
This is a problem that comes up repeatedly.
Whenever Labour go into coalition with Fine Gael, they seem to lose 40% of their seats in the next election. It's essentially political self-harming.
I'm sure that the decision has nothing to do with ministerial cars and enhanced salaries and pensions.
Funny that the negotiations always seem to hinge on the principled point of how many ministerial positions Labour will get!
You'd have thought their voters would expect it by now.
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