Irish elections--Fianna Fail, as expected, gets crushed. I've included some comments from readers at the end of this BBC story on the election. Fine Gael says that they are going to try to renegotiate the terms of their bail out agreement. Good luck with that.... They should never have guaranteed those banking debts, that is the agreement that they should renegotiate.
Irish election: Enda Kenny claims opposition victory
Enda Kenny is likely to seek a coalition with the Labour Party
26 February 2011 Last updated at 15:07 ET
bbc.co.uk
The Irish Republic's main opposition leader Enda Kenny has said his party has won a "massive endorsement" to govern after parliamentary elections.
He said the country had given Fine Gael a clear mandate "to provide stable and strong government with a clear agenda".
Ireland's dominant party for generations, Fianna Fail, is facing a crushing defeat.
It called the vote, months after its governing coalition negotiated an 85bn-euro (£72bn) EU/IMF loan package.
The Irish Republic is the first EU member state to have received a financial bail-out to go to the polls.
Mr Kenny has made it clear that he will try to re-negotiate the terms of the bail-out.
Fine Gael is hoping to secure a majority in the 165-seat Dail (parliament) but with an estimated 36% of first-preference votes, the party is expected to fall short of the required 83 seats.
A coalition with the Labour party, tipped for second place, is most likely although Fine Gael might also seek a deal with independent members of the parliament.
The party's director of elections, Phil Hogan, told Irish broadcaster RTE that nothing should be taken for granted.
He said: "We have to wait until we see the pattern of (vote) transfers."
BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson says Fianna Fail is facing almost complete wipe-out in Dublin.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
image of Mark Simpson Mark Simpson BBC Ireland correspondent
A seismic change has taken place in Irish party politics.
Fianna Fail was the dominant political force in Ireland for 80 years, but has been left humbled and humiliated
Fine Gael has historically been the bridesmaid of Irish politics, but will now take the lead role.
A lot will be said in the coming days about a fresh start for Ireland and a new beginning.
However, given the dire state of the country's public finances, the new government will have no option but to continue with austerity measures.
Its share of the vote in the capital city is estimated at just 8%.
Analysts say the party will struggle to win more than one of Dublin's seats. Former Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has been elected but he is likely to be Fianna Fail's sole survivor in the city. His brother, former junior minister Conor Lenihan, lost his seat.
Noel Dempsey, a former Fianna Fail minister retiring from politics, said a nationwide total of 20-plus seats was all the party could hope for.
"It's looking pretty grim," he said. Another spokesman said the party had struggled in every constituency.
The first candidate to be elected was Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton in Dublin West.
Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, who gave up his seat in the UK parliament to stand in the election, topped the poll in Louth, in the north-east, with more than 15,000 votes.
With Sinn Fein aiming at least to double its representation in the Irish parliament, the Dail, the party achieved its first success in the count with the election of Pearse Doherty in the Donegal South East constituency.
Mr Adams said it was on course for major gains: "I think the votes across the state show a significant amount of people support the position we have taken up."
According to the RTE exit poll, throughout the country Fine Gael won 36.1% and Labour, its traditional coalition partner, took 20.5% - its best result ever.
Fianna Fail was knocked into third place on 15.1%, its worst result ever.
Sinn Fein won 10.1% while support for the Greens, Fianna Fail's junior coalition partner, plummeted to 2.7%.
Other candidates, in a race with a record number of independents standing, took 15.5%.
The RTE/Millward Brown Lansdowne poll traditionally provides an accurate picture of voting with its exit poll at the last election in 2007 accurate to within half a percentage point.
Projecting the number of seats from the share of the vote is not an exact science.
However, based on the results of the RTE exit poll, Professor Michael Marsh from Trinity College Dublin made the following estimate of the shape of the next 166-strong Irish parliament:
* Fine Gael 72 seats
* Labour 38 seats
* Fianna Fail 20 seats
* Independents 20 seats
* Sinn Fein 15 seats
* Greens 1 seat
Voters blamed Fianna Fail for the end of the "Celtic Tiger" economic boom.
Fianna Fail, in power for the past 14 years with various junior coalition partners, went into the race with a new leader, Micheal Martin, after the resignation of Brian Cowen, the outgoing taoiseach (prime minister).
It will take two days to complete the official count.
Many parts of the country saw a big increase in turnout on the 67% recorded in the last general election in 2007.
What do you think about the Irish election results? What lies ahead for Ireland's economy? A selection of your comments will be published below:
Without a separation of bank and sovereign debt we are sunk. No matter who sits in the parliament, with no removal of the private bank debt from the Irish taxpayer the country will default. The sharks will swoop in and buy up everything (property/state assets/bank assets), we descend into servitude. History repeating itself, will people ever learn?
Paul Nolan, Gorey, Wexford
It is a complete farce, it doesn't really matter which party wins the election. The real power lies with the IMF, they essentially 'own' Ireland now. Fine Gael will just be the puppets of the EU bailiffs. Sad times indeed for once such a proud country.
Polly Bell, Cork, Ireland
As an Irish Citizen who works in the Rupublic and lives in the North (British controlled zone) I have taken quite a bit of interest in this election and looked back into the history to see how these parties formed. Whilst Fianna Fail can be partly blamed for the lack of banking regulation, trying to remain on the pigs back and for years ignored the EU with regard to economic overheating and unsustainable growth, they are not entirely at fault. Citizens must share some of the responsibility for this. They were happy to take the ridiculous loans and accepted the lunatic property valuations. The three main political parties don't seem to have a clear ethos or identifiable set of beliefs and remarkable the only party that did expose their thinking was Sinn Fein. It was clear that in the republic they position themselves to the left and have made it clear that they will follow a largely socialist approach. This would be a massive departure from their stance in the north, which is largely neo-conservative. For Ireland to succeed, she needs to understand who she is and what she represents. They need to decide which system of government is best for the country. They need to decide if they want to serve the people or the banks and captains of industry. Its regrettable that a right winged party, Fine Gael, holds the upper hand and they are clearing now and historically a party who do not know if they are Irish or best suckling the teat of British colonialism. Hopefully Labour will find themselves, understand their roots and if in coalition will steer the country towards more non-offensive policies. Ireland needs to realise that its not a US state. It may have senators, a president and have 26 of its counties in a republic and a health system that checks your wallet before your pulse...hold on....maybe it needs to become the 51st state afterall :-)
Brian Toner, Newry, Island of Ireland
Fianna Fail's defeat is like the aftermath of an earthquake except in an earthquake there are only innocent victims. The last twelve months we have listened to one lie after another and the Irish people have finally woken up to the fact that when people in particular politicians lie they must be punished. It is such a shame that some of the party's members were allowed to resign before the election and receive such huge sums of money as a reward for their lies and deceit.
Catherine Brown, Dublin , Ireland
Doesn't matter who gets the ministerial car - Jean Claude Trichet is the commander in chief. We are just an EU fiefdom and this stage, here to pay the gambling debts of French, German and UK banks.
Ewan Duffy, Celbridge, Kildare, Ireland
Wholly deserved.
Stuart, Tavira, Portugal
There was only one person I talked to on my recent trip home who admitted she was going to vote for Fianna Fail, she said: "I know they are awful, but I can't bring myself to vote for anyone else." This is the attitude of someone who supports a football team and sticks by them no matter what to do and cannot vote for a rival. It would be like a Manchester United supporter being dissatisfied with their team and supporting Liverpool instead - they simply cannot bring themselves to do it. Fianna Fail understands this mentality as is shown by a frequent slogan of theirs: "Vote for the winning team." Only when people realise that politics needs to be taken more seriously than sport can this mentality be changed.
Diarmuid, Paris, France
Finanna Fail went on the "payroll" of the financial services sector and promoted and magnified the worst excess of financial practices that let to Irelands sever recession. Then Finanna Fail compounded the problem by lying to everyone about the real state if the Irish Government's finances, leaving Ireland exposed to the harsh terms of the EU bailout that will haunt Ireland for years to come. Finanna Fail's electorial disaster is well earned.
Michael Flynn, Philadelphia, USA
The people are angry so they hit out at the ruling party, however the winner in this election like Obama over here will be accepting a poisoned chalice. Any fool can govern when things are good, the only answer for Mother Eire is to default and let the financial sector clean up its own mess.
Chris Brennan, Boston, Massachusetts
Whoever wins, it won't change the size of the debt.
Joe Ryan, Nogent, France |
