Fianna Fáil will not enter coalition with Sinn Féin

FIANNA FÁIL will not enter coalition with Sinn Féin after the next election, even if the IRA fulfils its pledge to decommission, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has said.

Speculation grew yesterday that the IRA would begin destroying its arsenal by the end of the month, with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning, chaired by Canadian general John de Chastelain, on standby for verification purposes.

But a rapid conclusion to that process would not be sufficient to convince Mr Ahern to enter government with the IRA’s political wing after the election, due in 2007. Asked if he saw any circumstances in which FF and SF would form a coalition, he replied firmly: “No, I don’t.”