Irish governing coalition set to fall short of majority

Enda Kenny has declared himself “man enough” to admit his mistakes and move on after coming under pressure over his latest gaffe in the final days of the general election campaign.

Mr Kenny formed a coalition government with the social-democratic Labour Party and has been campaigning to return to power with the party.

The bookmaker reports that the candidate they’ve seen the most money for in the General Election betting is Fianna Fáil’s Micháel Martin.

I think the hallmark of leadership is how you move on from issues that arise like that.

He said: “Despite promising a democratic revolution, (Enda Kenny) has kept Fianna Fail’s legacy of cronyism and that culture of corruption and political patronage alive and well”.

Opponents seized on the Taoiseach’s apparent admission in a live television debate that he personally appointed a Fine Gael supporter to a State board a year and a half ago.

But with the people of Clare heading to the polling stations tomorrow, people have been speaking to Clare FM about what they want to see when the next Government takes office. “That’s why we need a second term to complete the job that people gave us, to fix our public finances and get people back to work”.

Commenting on the issue the outgoing TD said that the budgets introduced by the Government had neglected to honour commitments made by Fine Gael and Labour towards those with disabilities. “The last thing that this country needs now is political instability”, Kenny told reporters this week.

“The increase in independents is an indication that people are dissatisfied with the traditional mainstream parties”, Adshead said.

The most commonly predicted outcome would require Fine Gael to form an unprecedented coalition with its political nemesis, Fianna Fail, which led Ireland to the brink of bankruptcy in 2011 but has risen steadily in this month’s polls. The nationalist Sinn Fein party polled at 15 percent.

Both would be reluctant to consider a pact with Sinn Fein, still haunted by its association with Northern Ireland’s violent history.