Taoiseach rules out coalition with SF

TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern yesterday rowed back publicly from the views expressed by Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern that it was only a “matter of time” before Sinn Féin would be considered as suitable coalition partners for Fianna Fáil.

Speaking at his party’s annual Wolfe Tone commemoration in Bodenstown yesterday, the Taoiseach made it clear that there was no prospect of any coalition between Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin until the IRA ceased to exist and paramilitarism was eliminated.

While downplaying the Foreign Affairs Minister’s comments, Mr Ahern repeatedly refused to be drawn on what point in the future such an arrangement would be considered.