Early Irish election results suggest foes must become allies

Enda Kenny said he will await the final results of the election before he calls his party together to make any decisions on what to do next.

A Fine-Fail alliance would still need support from another party.

“We are not going to go in and prop up a regressive and negative old conservative government, whatever the particular party political complexion”, Mr Adams said. “Obviously I’d like to think that it will be possible, given the final results, to be able to put a government together”.

“The option that screams out the most is a Fine Gael-Fianna Fail coalition”, says Adrian Kavanagh, a University of Maynooth lecturer.

Yet Ireland’s soft-spoken leader vowed to remain in office atop a new coalition and would seek new allies with the sole aim of creating “as stable a government as can be created”.

But Labour suffered heavy losses as results came in Saturday, and Fine Gael has conceded it has few options besides turning to Fianna Fail.

But Fianna Fail’s Micheal Martin insisted the focus was not entirely on ending the animosity between the parties which permeates parishes and families up and down the country. Fine Gael and Fianna Fail were on opposite sides during Ireland’s civil war.

Initially determined to observe a Sinn Fein boycott of the new Irish state, de Valera ultimately led most Sinn Fein activists into his new party and parliament – and in the process became Ireland’s most dominant political figure of the 20th century.

“In the event that they were to form a grand coalition, you really are going down the road towards likely merger and that is why you are going to find elements completely against it”.

Ireland’s two main political parties are coming under intense pressure to forge an unprecedented alliance as confusion reigns over the possibility of a new government. He said both parties should set aside their historic hostilities and share power.

As the first counts indicated the depth of the slump for Fine Gael, betting company Paddy Power began offering odds of 4/7 that Kenny would resign as party leader by July.

Electoral officials expect almost all winners in the 158-member parliament to be declared by Sunday night. The first candidate to be elected was Shane Ross, a independent candidate who stood in south Dublin on a platform of ending political cronyism and transforming Irish politics.

But neither side has ruled out forming a partnership if government stability requires this.

The results echo recent elections in Portugal and Spain, where anger at austerity, perceptions of rising inequality and mistrust of established political elites left parliaments fragmented and parties struggling to form governments.

Ireland’s ruling coalition was ousted by voters angry at the country’s uneven recovery, results indicated on Saturday, leaving Prime Minister Enda Kenny facing the unpalatable prospect of trying to secure a deal with his biggest rival.

The spread between Ireland’s 10-year benchmark government bonds and German securities of a similar maturity has increased to 76 basis points from 44 basis points just six weeks ago, as uncertainty over the election outcome grew.

He said there would be time to assess the campaign but it was not the most ideal the party ever had.

The poll by Irish broadcasters RTE was revealed hours ahead of Saturday’s start to a ballot count expected to run into Sunday.

Dozens of Fine Gael and Labour Party lawmakers lost their seats in parliament following Friday’s vote as people deserted the governing parties over the tough austerity measures imposed after the 2011 economic collapse.