Gilmore: Quitting will not rock the Coalition

However, doubt has been cast over the ability of a new leader to achieve the biggest task of agreeing a budget with its Fine Gael partners in the face of an anti-austerity backlash, after Finance Minister Michael Noonan said there is room to ease the €2bn of planned cuts.
While tax and employment data pointed to a brighter fiscal outlook, Mr Noonan said he would have limited scope to ease up on cuts in October.