Ireland's "Green" coalition: Environmentalists and Fianna Fail unite

Still, the political duplicity displayed by the Irish Green Party in entering government with Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats is extraordinary. It is also a sharp indicator of tensions and instabilities in Irish society that can only deepen following the third re-election of Taoiseach (prime minister) Bertie Ahern, and his Fianna Fail party.

Ahern won the May 24 general election. Fianna Fail, though expected to suffer a debacle, lost only 3 seats in the Irish parliament, leaving them with 78. But its coalition partners, the Progressive Democrats, were nearly wiped out. The proposed alternative coalition of Fine Gael and the Irish Labour Party won only 71 seats between them, unable to unseat a Fianna Fail with whom they had no essential differences.

The result left Fianna Fail short of the 83 seats required for a working majority in the 165-seat parliament.

Negotiations were duly opened with prospective coalition partners, particularly the Greens, with six seats, a number of independent TDs (members of the Irish parliament), and the two surviving Progressive Democrats. For Fianna Fail, an alliance with the Greens was preferable in terms of forming a working majority with as few concessions as possible, to one with the Labour Party or Sinn Fein.

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