Difficulty of ending Civil War politics underrated
Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael despise each other for reasons beyond historical differences
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin’s personal triumph in the election puts him in a psychologically strong postion. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA Wire
As the smoke clears from the election battlefield, pressure mounts from sections of the media, as well as from elements of the left and Sinn Féin (though they may vehemently deny it) on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to recognise that some kind of coalition between them is now the only feasible arrangement, and one that is well-nigh inevitable.
The huge difficulties in bringing this about are underrated. A simplistic case is framed in historically facile terms. We are told that the division between the two “Civil War parties” has been meaningless for decades, that there are no differences on matters of substance, and that some form of political co-operation is a necessary step towards rationalising and modernising Irish politics.