Brendan Howlin: Fianna Fáil’s ‘new politics’ is Haughey-esque

So it has come to pass. Seven weeks since the general election and no government in sight.

At the election Labour warned about a choice between stability and chaos. It now looks like it is chaos coming to pass. I think the public have been reasonable. They have allowed Patrick's Day, Easter and the 1916 Commemorations to pass without a government being formed, but now they expect action.

I think they know Enda Kenny has been trying to put a government in place.

The seeds of this problem rest in the election itself. Trying to pin Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin or the Independents down on their post-election intentions was like pinning the tail on a donkey.

I don’t know how many times I said the public were being deceived. The media tried to get answers too.

We knew the Government were offering themselves for re-election. The Opposition was more coy. It'll be all right on the night they promised. Micheál Martin proved to be better at dodging questions than answering them. Sinn Féin posited a scenario that was never going to materialise. The Independents were full of good intention but seven weeks into discussions with both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael who knows where they stand?

It is a complete irony that those claiming to have won the election – Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Trotskyites – are completely failing to step up to the plate. The two self-styled republican parties have nearly 70 seats between them. Why are they not under pressure to resolve the impasse?

Battle of the Opposition

Fianna Fáil in particular seems satisfied to have won the battle of the opposition.

Though how they think they won an election when they ended up with less seats and votes than Fine Gael is beyond me. How quickly the old arrogance returns. Forget the new politics. This is Charles J Haughey riding again.

Cast your mind back five years. Ireland was mired in crisis. Some urged Labour to play this party first, country second, game. But, we accepted our responsibilities and went into government.

After the election Labour and Fine Gael were the largest parties – with more seats combined than Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael today. There is nothing grand about this grand coalition.

Labour would have been vilified had it put its own interest first at that time. Ireland simply could not afford the political instability.

Some said we might have become the largest party in time. Not an insignificant prize but second place for me against ensuring this country has a future

I’m proud of our record. We left Ireland in an infinitely better place than the mess Fianna Fáil had left it in. I won’t be party to rewriting history.

It would have been an embarrassment to celebrate the 1916 centenary with the troika still in town. Perhaps it is because of the economic progress we made that Fianna Fáil and the Independents think we can afford this hiatus now?

That I suppose is a backhanded compliment to the outgoing Government.

But it doesn’t butter any parsnips. It is complacency itself.

You need only look across the water to what is happening in Britain.

The prime minister is in tax trouble, his cabinet is split, his budget in tatters.

And the referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union looming into view. Two months away to be precise. The IMF has warned Brexit could cause "severe" economic damage to Europe.

The consensus here, expressed by the Central Bank in its recent economic commentary last week, is that the British referendum is a significant event for this country. Ibec takes a similar view.

At best one can say that the economic impact on Ireland is uncertain. And we know how damaging uncertainty is to business confidence.

It will put our failure to submit our stability programme update to Europe at the end of this month – the first economic document in our new budgetary process – something the markets will undoubtedly notice, into context.

Sure, the economy is continuing to improve, but it is at the point that you start taking that for granted that the danger arises.

Opinion polls

Recent opinion polls in Britain prove that the result is going to be close. We may be a matter of weeks away from a seismic political shock which will require an Irish government with a steady hand to make sure our economic and political interests are protected in the post-referendum environment.

We will be asked to draw on all our European experience to smooth the waters. But for all the skill of our diplomatic corps we need a government.

Fianna Fáil may have done better than even it expected at the last election but it is seriously overplaying its hand now. It dismissed a substantial offer from Fine Gael with a hardly a moment’s thought.

We were told after the party caused the economic crash that it had changed. But, there is no sign of that so far and for the country the stakes are getting higher by the day.

We found out during the election they can all talk a good game, but the time for talking is running out.

Brendan Howlin is Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform