Cliff Taylor: Why the reluctance to govern in the world’s fastest-growing economy?

It’s not so much a slow bicycle race, more a case of musical chairs. Everyone, it seems, hopes that when the music stops they will get a seat in opposition and not find themselves having to go into government.

If politics is meant to be about the exercise of power, then we are in some kind of parallel universe where everyone wants to be in government, just not this time around.

Could it really be so bad being in power in a country with the fastest recorded growth rate in the world last year?

And yes, I know Ireland’s economic statistics are a bit flaky and the next administration will face many challenges, with limited resources to address them.

But that just means it will have to make decisions, which is, after all, what being in government is meant to be about.

There will be tough calls to be made, but economic growth forecasts are good and there will be opportunities to get things done.

Part of the political narrative, for example, has been dominated by the “risk” to the other parties of Sinn Féin leading the opposition.

This seems to display a huge lack of confidence in a new government’s ability to make progress.

If you flipped the argument on its head , you could say that a Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil coalition would have the numbers to push forward on crunch problem areas, such as health and housing, and leave the opposition a bit marginalised.

But after the beating the Coalition took in the election, governing is seen as a risky business.

We are witnessing a collective lack of confidence among the big parties about what they could achieve.

Endless discussions have gone on with various Independents, who inevitably have a range of agendas.

This is despite the fact that there is not the remotest chance of any kind of government being formed without some kind of agreement between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

Letting it drag on

This has all taken so long because, without stating the obvious, it could. From the point of view of politicians, as long as they can be seen to be discussing some of the problems people are facing, they feel they can let it drag on.

The Civil Service is running the country, though this could get tricky within a few weeks.

Insiders say things can continue until late this month, but that decisions can’t be delayed much longer.

A spring economic statement is due to be delivered to Brussels, outlining budget plans.

The Luas service could soon creak to a halt and someone needs to sort out the disputes over teachers’ and medical consultants’ pay. Then there is the housing crisis.

All these issues are important, and some of them are urgent. But none has been enough to up the heat under the two big parties.

Nervousness in the markets and any significant hike in our government bond interest rates would be the kind of thing to put pressure on to do a deal. But so far this hasn’t happened.

Investors reckon that something will be worked out. Fortunately, the nervousness that swept through world markets in January and February has abated.

One other possible threat is Brexit. Investors believe that the UK will vote to remain in the EU and bookmakers’ odds strongly support this view.

If this view changes in the run-up to the vote, or there is a vote to leave, then we would need a government in place – and not just the current caretaker administration – to put the Irish case to the markets and to the rest of the EU.

This is one reason why another general election and more talking thereafter would carry a risk , as the pace we are moving at suggests this could easily run into May or June.

Mutual dislike

Perhaps it will all get sorted in the next few weeks, though the mutual dislike between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, the absence of any chemistry between their two leaders and the lack of any social connections between the two sides all make it difficult.

It seems that “ talks about talks” between the two big parties might finally get under way next week.

Political sources still believe that a grand coalition will be hard to broker – though many, privately, do not rule it out – with some kind of minority administration the other option.

It would be hard to see the minority option lasting too long, and it would seem to deprive both parties of the opportunity to cash in politically from addressing the country’s problems.

The party in government – more likely Fine Gael – would be on shaky foundations and would find it hard to think beyond the next week.

Meanwhile, the other party on the opposition benches would be asked relentlessly when it would pull the plug, and would not have its hands on any of the levers of power.

In the endless ruminations since the election about what the people voted for, the obvious point can sometimes be ignored.

The public wants a government that works efficiently in its interest and makes progress in tackling the key problem areas.

The endless dance since the election suggests that many of our politicians feel they are not up to this task.

They all want to be in government – just not now, the next time. The politicians’ prayer right now seems to be “Lord, make me a minister, just not yet.”