“Despite the disappointing outcome, which did not return the outgoing Fine Gael-Labour government, Fine Gael will be the largest group and we are determined to play our part in providing the Irish people with a government”, Kenny said in a statement.
Advertisement
“Democracy can be very exciting, but it’s merciless”, the prime minister said.
A grand coalition between the two age-old foes would probably require the support of several independent candidates and smaller parties, who had a very successful election, achieving 29 percent so far.
With many rounds of ballot counting left under Ireland’s complex system of proportional representation, the winners of the 158 parliamentary seats are not expected to be declared until Monday.
Initial results indicated Fine Gael would still be the largest party in parliament, but old rivals Fianna Fail are now hot on their heels in a remarkable recovery from 2011, when they were routed in the wake of the economic crash.
With 95 seats filled, Fine Gael was on 25.5 percent, Fianna Fail was at 24.4 percent and Republican Sinn Fein was at 13.9 percent. During the 1930s, Fianna Fail members at one point entered parliament with pistols in their pockets, in case the then-incumbent party – that later became Fine Gael – refused to hand over power.
Sinn Féin has also made gains, becoming a third force in Irish politics.
“We’re into a new era, we have seen in this election a seismic change”, leader Gerry Adams said after he was re-elected in his County Louth constituency, close to the border with Northern Ireland.
Ireland’s shell-shocked leaders are convening for the first time since last weekend’s election to plot how to form a new government, a search with no easy answer in a hung parliament.
Commentator Brendan O’Connor wrote in the Irish Independent: “The best guess anyone can make today is that the establishment are going to have to hold their noses, circle the wagons and huddle together to create a government, to keep the barbarians from the gate”.
“We need to look across a broad spectrum of the Dail (parliament) and see where we can find opportunities to discuss the formation of a government”, Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan of Fine Gael told national broadcaster RTE.
That would echo recent elections in Portugal and especially Spain, whose ruling centre-right party failed to win re-election in a December poll.
The two parties evolved from opposite sides of the cut-throat civil war that followed Ireland’s 1922 independence from Britain.
Before the election, analysts noted that Fine Gael and Fianna Fail’s combined support was at historic lows – a trend for established parties reflected in many other European countries – and asked whether this could be the vote that finally ended “civil war politics”.
Kenny has said he will try to form a government.
“We’re committed to ensuring the country gets a good government, but it’s going to take time”.
“There is hardly the width of a cigarette paper between them on most policy issues”, said Philip O’Sullivan, an economist at Investec Plc in Dublin, before the election.
“I have a duty and responsibility as Taoiseach (prime minister) to do everything possible and as head of government to see that our country is provided with a stable government”, he replied. Micheal Martin counters: “Chaotic stability'”.
“The only word I can use right now is deep disappointment”, he said.
Advertisement
Parliament is due to choose a prime minister on March 10, and serious negotiations will only probably begin once that session fails to produce a victor.
