Fine Gael’s promised ‘new politics’ may be a coalition with Fianna Fáil

WHERE did it all go wrong? The government elected with the largest majority in the history of the State hasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of being re-elected.

The next election will finally see the most fundamental realignment of Irish politics imaginable.

Of course, all that could change. The general election is not far short of two years away. An awful lot can happen. But that requires two things: a full economic recovery, and a major ‘reset’ of this government’s programme, promise, and skills. The tentative economic recovery is not guaranteed to last, nor to be strong enough to deliver a real political recovery in its wake. The necessary reset seems beyond the reach of the Government.