Ireland's main opposition Fianna Fail party on Thursday rejected an offer to form a full coalition partnership with Prime Minister Enda Kenny's Fine Gael following inconclusive elections in February.
Fine Gael had said in a statement on Wednesday after talks between Kenny and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin that it had offered the party a "full and equal partnership" in a future administration.
Speaking to reporters after another meeting with Kenny on Thursday, Martin said "the best interests of the Irish people would not be served by a Fianna Fail/Fine Gael government".
He said that his party could not betray a core electoral commitment not to enter coalition with its main political foe since the 1930s.
Martin also said his relationship with Kenny over the past 24 hours "had left a lot to be desired."
One or other of the two behemoths of Irish politics have held power since the foundation of the state evolved from the bitter divisions that catapulted the country into civil war from 1922-1923.
The rivalry between the two dates back to that war.
Speaking to reporters after talks with Kenny, Martin said "the best interests of the Irish people would not be served by a Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael government".
A spokesman for Fine Gael, which holds 50 seats in the 158-seat parliament, described Fianna Fail's decision as a missed opportunity and a mistake.
Fianna Fail holds 43 in the Dail, or parliament.
Given the rejection, political analysts say the options for the formation of a new government are fast running out.
Fianna Fail has raised the prospect of forming a minority government with the support of independent deputies but without an indication of support from Fine Gael, this is regarded as improbable.
Similarly, Fine Gael would not have the numbers to rule without some deal with its old foe.
This leaves the country with the prospect of returning to the polls once more to break the political logjam and to end the current vacuum.
Ireland’s main opposition Fianna Fail party on Thursday rejected an offer to form a full coalition partnership with Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s Fine Gael following inconclusive elections in February.
Fine Gael had said in a statement on Wednesday after talks between Kenny and Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin that it had offered the party a “full and equal partnership” in a future administration.
Speaking to reporters after another meeting with Kenny on Thursday, Martin said “the best interests of the Irish people would not be served by a Fianna Fail/Fine Gael government”.
He said that his party could not betray a core electoral commitment not to enter coalition with its main political foe since the 1930s.
Martin also said his relationship with Kenny over the past 24 hours “had left a lot to be desired.”
One or other of the two behemoths of Irish politics have held power since the foundation of the state evolved from the bitter divisions that catapulted the country into civil war from 1922-1923.
The rivalry between the two dates back to that war.
Speaking to reporters after talks with Kenny, Martin said “the best interests of the Irish people would not be served by a Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael government”.
A spokesman for Fine Gael, which holds 50 seats in the 158-seat parliament, described Fianna Fail’s decision as a missed opportunity and a mistake.
Fianna Fail holds 43 in the Dail, or parliament.
Given the rejection, political analysts say the options for the formation of a new government are fast running out.
Fianna Fail has raised the prospect of forming a minority government with the support of independent deputies but without an indication of support from Fine Gael, this is regarded as improbable.
Similarly, Fine Gael would not have the numbers to rule without some deal with its old foe.
This leaves the country with the prospect of returning to the polls once more to break the political logjam and to end the current vacuum.
