No coalition with SF on current economic policies - Ahern

Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has said that a Sinn Féin-Fianna Fail coalition in the Republic is out of the question unless the party changes its economic policies.

Minister Ahern met with the Republican leadership in Hillsborough today, during a round of meetings on the North's political process.

The minister warned that Sinn Féin’s taxation and other fiscal policies make them unlikely bed-fellows: “In relation to the issue of Sinn Féin moving into the political process exclusively, they potentially can be part of the democratic process.

"When is comes down to hard-ball economics, right across the spectrum in the Republic Sinn Féin are completely on a different side of the spectrum to my party.”

The leader of Sinn Féin in Leinster House, Caoimhghin O'Caolain, is treating the remarks with contempt, and accused the main parties in the south of "Sinn Féin-bashing".