Juno McEnroe: It will be a sorry state of affairs if government deal can't be made

There have been many false dawns in the three-way coalition talks and a plethora of crises that have inevitably not collapsed the rolling negotiations.

As often quoted, this is senior hurling for politicians, where the best bluffs and negotiating ruses count. As reported in this newspaper, negotiators have walked to the edge on occasions during the at-times frayed talks, threatening blue murder unless certain political demands are met: Fianna Fáil have pushed for the pension age to be reduced to 66; the Green Party want a 7% annual cut to carbon emissions and Fine Gael are fighting to keep 'big business', the markets and rural Ireland happy.