2 posts tagged “irish election”
RTE News is reporting that Fianna Fail and the Green Party have finally agreed a draft programme for government:
The Green Party and Fianna Fáil have agreed a draft programme for government.
The 90-page document is to be put to a special Green Party conference tomorrow afternoon and will also be discussed by the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party.
Speaking this evening, Minister Séamus Brennan said the draft programme covered all major policy areas but did not deal with distribution of Ministerial Portfolios.
Mr Brennan said these would be decided by Green Party leader Trevor Sargent and Fianna Fáil leader Bertie Ahern when they meet tonight or tomorrow morning.
Trevor Sargent said they believed the roadblocks which led to the collapse of talks on Friday have been worked through.
But he said it would be the party's members who will democratically decide if the party is to enter the next Government.
Mr Sargent also said members at tomorrow's convention will not be told how many ministries the party can expect if they approve the coalition.
Speaking at a news conference in Dublin, he said they would not be discussing Government formation tomorrow but only the policy platform agreed with Fianna Fáil.
He said it was recognised there would be a role for the two deputies from the Progressive Democrats and for Independents, but that was a matter for the Taoiseach.
He said he was very happy that if the deal were approved, there would be major changes in people's employment and quality of life.
The cynic in me wonders if this is the last sniff of democracy they'll get for the next five years? Anyway, from the above it seems that the PDs are definitely in, as are a smattering of former-FF Independents.
IrishElection.com has the statement from the Green Party. They also ask a number of "What now?" questions, including the crucial question: how many of the Greens' policies from their election manifesto will make it into the government programme without being watered down?
The Sunday Independent is reporting that Fianna Fail and the Greens are resuming coalition negotiations - maybe all is not lost?
"Fianna Fail renews contact with Greens on coalition talks
Fianna Fail has confirmed that it has made contact with the Green Party again this afternoon with a view to restarting coalition negotiations.
A spokesperson for the party said contact is now expected to proceed between the two parties this afternoon.
It was suggested earlier today that the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was anxious to meet the Green Party leader Trevor Sargent in a bid to revive the stalled talks.
This followed an article Mr Ahern penned in today's Sunday Independent in which he said there is much common ground between the parties, despite the breakdown of their coalition talks.
Green party negotiator Dan Boyle said he believes the Taoiseach is sending a clear message that he thinks agreement between the two parties is possible."
Update: More news on this and other developments today from RTE News.
