Poll day looms as Cowen caves to demands

ELECTION Day looks set for February 25 after Brian Cowen’s depleted government caved in to opposition demands last night and agreed to rush the Finance Bill through the Dáil and Seanad by the end of the week.

Fianna Fáil’s hopes of delaying passage of the bill to allow the party more time to prepare its campaign were dashed when Fine Gael and Labour objected.

The main opposition parties warned they would proceed with no-confidence motions to collapse Mr Cowen’s minority government if it did not agree to rush the bill through.