FF support collapses - Is it time for cross-party government?

THE euphoria Fine Gael must have felt at first sight of the weekend poll that gave them a historic seven-point lead over Fianna Fáil could only have been momentary.

The prospect of being asked to run the country as the world economy collapses would be too daunting to contemplate. Too daunting even for a party that has languished in opposition for far longer than it might care to acknowledge. Enda Kenny — and Eamon Gilmore who has presided over a 6% increase in Labour’s rating — would have been delighted to cheer the theory but would prefer to wait for another day to turn it into practice.

And it would be hard to blame either of them.