As we all sweat it out under lock-down/up, Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin have been cobbling together a programme for government when they finally get into bed together. But it’ll have to be at least a threesome – just the two of them (and their respective parties) won’t work.
Even Stephen Collins in today’s Irish Times calls the FG-FF document ‘reckless’ and ‘a recipe for disaster.’ That’s because none of the promises -on health, housing, child care, tax – have been costed. Leo and Micheál say of course it’s been left open, because the third leg of the stool will want to have their bit included. FF and FG have even promised to establish a group that’d look at how “an all-island” endeavor could be made real.
For once I find myself agreeing with Stephen C. FG and FF have gone down Sinn Féin’s manifesto and have ticked just about every box – even, after a fashion, the united Ireland box. Diarmaid Ferriter in his column this morning questions the promises of the two parties that they’re not going to go back to austerity. All these promises will need huge sums of money if they’re to be fulfilled. That means either increasing tax – they said they wouldn’t – or a huge amount of borrowing, with up to a third of the amount borrowed going in pay-back interest.
There appears to be no dodging it: the south’s economy (and the north’s, and that of everyone else) has suffered a ferocious economic as well as health hit. Rebuilding a shattered economy will be hard and long. The question is, will the voting public turn their wrath on the government which tries to do this repair job?
So in forming a FF-FG government, the two parties may be quaffing recklessly on a poisoned bottle in the Last Chance Saloon. Sinn Féin may well be saying “Yeah, go ahead, guys” while secretly thanking God that FF and FG have stolen their clothes. There are worse places to be than in opposition when the economy has been hit by a wrecking-ball.
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