Taoiseach rules out coalition: Self-indulgent and dangerous

Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s assurance that there will not be a “grand coalition” between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil after the next election smacks of hubris, tribalism, and the dangerous disconnect undermining politics.

Sadly, Mr Kenny’s assertion will more than likely prove accurate. We will continue to stagger between crisis after crisis and lost opportunity after lost opportunity with our half-cocked system that indulges the century-old fairytale that there is any real difference between the country’s two most popular parties.

There is also, in Mr Kenny’s assertion, the tacit suggestion that he expects to be a central figure in these events, even though it was expected he would have announced his resignation around this time.