The Irish election

[TheOstrich]

Are we going to see Sinn Fein filling some sort of power vacuum in a coalition Government, as the polls suggest they have gained a lot of support, or will the two main parties soldier on?
And if Sinn Fein does gain some sort of power as a junior coalition partner, what effect will that have on Unification?

[cromwell]

I can't pretend that I'm an expert on Irish politics.
Leo Varadkar seems to be doing not as well as he'd hoped in the polls. Some sort of coalition government might well be on the cards.
Cautiously I would say that Irish unification could be a good thing if the Unionists can be assured that their culture and traditions would be respected. One problem would be finance. At the moment Ulster gets per capita more public money than any other part of the UK, and I can't see the Irish government wanting to take on that amount of extra spending. Nor can I see any British PM wanting to go on giving money to NI if it is part of a unified Ireland.

[Suff]

I follow this from time to time, especially as I follow politics in about half the countries in the EU. To an outsider like me it looks like an equivalent of the Tories and Labour having become so toxic that people need another choice. The most viable other choice is Sinn Fein and it doesn't really have to do with unification, just a lack of other choice.

The most interesting part of the whole thing for me is that both main parties are centre right. I found that in Scotland the most agricultural seats tended towards conservatism.

Dublin is one of the most expensive cities in the EU to live in, yet wages are not commensurate with the cost of living. I look at jobs in Ireland regularly but rates are usually too low to tempt.

There is a big problem with getting on the property ladder and rental rates. Something centre right won't really address and with the EU scrutiny on Irish budgets and commitments to budget surplus in order to keep ahead of the financial crisis bailout, any government's hands are going to be tied.

I wonder just how closely Sinn Fein politicians have followed Syria in Greece?

[Osc]

On a purely personal level, I will never ever vote for Sinn Fein. Our PR system of voting allows you to vote for the person rather than a party....which also goes a long way to explain why we usually have coalition governments, plus the fact that there are not huge differences between the two main parties (unlike the Tories and Labour). People who vote Fianna Fáil this time have short memories, as that is the party that brought us to our knees in 2008 (and the big recession in the 1980s too). I have been encouraged to see younger, fresher people to the fore in recent years - Varadkar, Coveney, McEntee - and would like to think that the old men are gradually being replaced. Yes, we have our problems, show me a country that doesn’t, but change for the sake of it never works. The sad thing about the upsurge in Sinn Fein support is that there is now a generation of young people that does not remember the horrors of Northern Ireland and this generation also chooses to ignore that Sinn Fein is still controlled by a shadowy unelected committee in another country. I sincerely hope (a) that they do not get enough seats to matter and (b) that neither main party reneges on the promise to reject coalition with them.

[Workingman]

Osc, thanks for that. It is good to get a view from someone who is there rather than the Irish media such a RTE, Irish Times, Examiner and so on, which are just as agenda driven as our not so wonderful British versions.

From what I can gather it looks likely to be another Fine Gael / Fianna Fáil coalition, though which one will provide the leader looks a close run thing. We will only know once the count is done tomorrow. Have a good shot of wkiskey and sleep well.

[Osc]

Well......exit polls show FG, FF and SF running almost neck and neck which is unprecedented. The count starts in the morning and will be rather interesting, to say the least. SF don’t have candidates in every constituency. We could well be back voting within a year

[cromwell]

I feel your pain Osc. We've had more votes than enough over the last few years. Hopefully something can be worked out.

[Suff]

Varadkar has failed tbe elected on the first or second counts. Although he is expected to be elected after more counts. Not an auspicious start for him.

[Kaz]

Osc, living in London during the '70s I also get a shiver down my spine when Sinn Fein get mentioned

[Suff]

And then SF won most votes but are not going to be the biggest party because they didn't field enough candidates.

A mistake they will not make again.

As I keep telling the climate lobby. People have a vorlte and if you ignore, dismiss or annoy enough of them they will vote for the unthinkable.

Trump. Boris. SF.

Some day the political classes will start waking up. Let us hope it is not too late.