Coalition crucible - Small parties must make voices heard

FIANNA FÁIL won more seats than any other party in the General Election, and in that sense the party clearly did best, but the result was not an unqualified endorsement.

It actually lost more seats than any party, other than its partners in government, the Progressive Democrats.

The biggest losers of all were the independents, whose numbers were down by nine seats from the 2002 general election. But Bertie Ahern was clear yesterday that his first move in forming a government would be to talk to the PDs and “like-minded independents”. While opponents might call such an arrangement “the losers’ alliance,” the Taoiseach explained that his main aim is to form a stable government that would last for five years.

He went on to stress his interest in the environment in a way that was obviously intended to appeal to the Green Party. He talked about the huge effort that the outgoing government put in on environmental issues, such as its climate change strategy, sustainable development, and the work in relation to “renewables”. In the past winter, he emphasised that there was a great deal of policy development on wind and wave power.

The Taoiseach made it clear that his second choice would be to form a government with the Green Party. He went on to take a longer-term view of things and referred to the kind of Ireland that would face his grandchildren in twenty years time.

At this time it is worth recalling the way things were twenty years ago, after the general election of 1987, when Fianna Fáil still had a policy of not going into coalition. The possible alliance between Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats had been roundly rejected at the polls.

People were particularly mindful of what had happened five years earlier in 1982 when a few of the independents held the balance of power. Fine Gael leader Garret FitzGerald tried to negotiate with the independents, even thought there was no realistic chance of forming a stable government.

This seemed to embolden them and Charlie Haughey in subsequent FF-independent negotiations allowed himself to be held to political ransom by Tony Gregory. The ensuing deal with Gregory presaged what was probably the worst government in our relatively short history, and a series of scandals that gave rise to a new word — GUBU.

In the following years, unemployment soared as the economy went into a virtual depression, while tens of thousands of young people had to emigrate in search of a livelihood.

There are none so stupid as those who do not learn from their mistakes, and hopefully our politicians will not make the same mistakes again.

The economic horrors of the 1980s gave rise to a new political realism that set the foundations for the Celtic Tiger economy. In 1987, when Tony Gregory had the balance of power again, Fine Gael did not try to cobble together an impossible combination. As a result, Mr Haughey held his nerve and balked at the agreement of another deal with Tony Gregory.

For the next two years, the country witnessed unprecedented co-operation as Fine Gael supported the minority Fianna Fáil government in what became known as the Tallaght Strategy.

This only came apart when Mr Haughey sought to exploit favourable public opinion polls to secure the elusive overall majority. His gambit failed and the PDs used their numbers to break the mould and compel Fianna Fáil to agree to a coalition government.

The PDs had essentially been formed to keep Mr Haughey from power, but they propped him up between 1989 and 1992 in what we have since learned was a time of considerable political corruption. But it should be emphasised that the PDs demonstrated that it was possible for even a tiny party to exert enormous clout within government.

It compelled the dismissal of a Tánaiste and the withdrawal of the nomination for one defence minister. In addition, it also forced the resignation of Mr Haughey as taoiseach and ultimately brought down the government of Albert Reynolds in 1992.

Previously, the smaller party in a coalition government suffered a backlash in the general election that followed but the PDs actually gained in 1992. They also gained in 2002 when they joined with Fianna Fáil to become the first coalition government to be returned to power.

Smaller parties should not therefore be afraid to negotiate with Fianna Fáil.

None of the smaller parties put up enough candidates to win the election last week, so the best they could ever expect was that those elected would be able to use their political influence to get as many of their policies as possible implemented.

Enda Kenny has again ruled out co-operation with Sinn Féin, so there is no realistic possibility that he could form a stable government. He should face that reality now, instead of insulting the intelligence of the electorate by arguing otherwise.

If the smaller parties are truly interested in implementing their particular policies, they should — in their own and the national interest — be prepared to negotiate with Fianna Fáil not just to form a stable government, but also to ensure that it is a responsible government.