Recent crises far more than storm in a teacup for creaking minority coalition

A year on from the last general election the ramshackle minority government continues to stumble from one damaging controversy to the next, writes Elaine Loughlin.

FEBRUARY 27, 2016, was the day Fine Gael’s electoral nightmare was realised. As ballot box after ballot box was opened, more bad news tumbled out.

Exactly a year later and another election seems only a breath away, because Enda Kenny’s party has engaged in internal leadership spats, has continuously quarrelled with its Independent partners, and has failed to implement significant change. The creaking minority coalition, with its reliance on Fianna Fáil, is stagnating the working of government.