Hung Dáil may see parties sleeping with the enemy
THE phrase “hung Dáil” is again en vogue. The last time this phrase got such an airing in our political discourse was the summer of 1989. Back then, Ireland experienced a real political crisis. Almost four weeks on from polling day, the country was still in the hands of a caretaker administration. For the first time in Irish history, a new Dáil had failed to elect a taoiseach. No party had an overall majority and none of the parties seemed able to conclude a coalition arrangement.
The parliamentary arithmetic pointed towards a Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats government, but the big problem was that the leaders of both parties were bitter enemies.
