And now the dust has settled. We’re told that the shape of the new government in the South could be a combination of Fianna Fail and any number of permutations and combinations. No it won’t.
What will happen is that Fianna Fail, holding most seats, will form a cunning plan with Fine Gael and it’s back to where we were. The fact that Sinn Féin got a seat more than FG won’t make a bit of difference.
It’s at times like this you see how parties are focused on power and self-aggrandisement, not on delivering election promises.Fianna Fail and Fine Gael declare they’ll not work with Sinn Féin and not a single journalistic eyebrow, north or south, is raised at this arbitrary stance. My good friend Joe McVeigh has written about this in a guest blog today: the simple fact that Sinn Féin had its modern origins in the north and, more importantly, that it wants to do something about national reunification is sufficient for FF and FG to turn their head away from the Shinners. Sure that would upset the comfortable consensus that has existed for over 100 years.
It’s not the economy or any such, stupid. It’s holding onto power.
Hey Jude, you took my sad phrase and made it better !!
The free state parties look upon SF with a mix of disdain and guilt. They worship Michael Collins yet detest his northern successors. They want to cling onto power and have no interest in the six counties. I have more respect for the loyalists than I do for FG or FF. My hope is to see the Brits leave Ireland and take the staters with them.