The 28th Dáil has been adjourned for the Easter recess with all bets now on whether it will, or will not, resume in session on Wednesday, April 17th.
The conventional wisdom is that Taoiseach may then dissolve the Dáil for the general election on May 9th or 10th, or he could wait a week later and set a date for May 16th or 17th. There is much speculation that polling day will be on a Friday.
Either way, the end is nigh for a Dáil that has been unique in many respects: the first minority Coalition supported by three, then four, Independents has become the longest-serving government, outside of World War II, in the history of this State. It has had more money to spend on the back of the Celtic Tiger than any other government in living memory.
This is the context in which the leaders of all the main political parties were invited in lengthy interviews in The Irish Times in the past week to set out their stalls for the imminent election. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern; the Fine Gael leader, Mr Noonan; the Tánaiste and Progressive Democrats leader, Ms Harney; the leader of the Labour Party, Mr Quinn; the new Green Party leader, Mr Sargent; and the president of Sinn Fein, Mr Adams, attempted to outline their priorities and some of their policies for the next government.
The Taoiseach acknowledged that there was scope for borrowing to fund the costs of improvements in the health service. His prospective coalition partner, Ms Harney, said that the PD election manifesto would make clear that they could not continue with over-spending if revenues were reducing. There had to be a correction between the two. And flying in the face of the electorate, Mr Ahern seemed to signal that he would be likely to invite the PDs to join a coalition with Fianna Fáil even if they were not required to form a government.
The divergences between the alternative coalition of Fine Gael, Labour and the Green Party are even more open. Mr Noonan will continue to put one per cent of GNP into the pension fund and, in certain circumstances, increase it. The Labour Party will not. Mr Quinn believes there is scope for additional current and capital spending over that planned by the Government or Fine Gael. The Green Party will be seeking the post of Minister for the Environment and a junior finance portfolio as well.
The leaders in waiting for the election have put their preliminary positions before the voters in The Irish Times in the last week. The president of Sinn Féin is interviewed today. What is abundantly clear from all of the interviews is that there are vastly different visions of where Ireland should be today in the fine print of parties' policies. What we did with the boom and where we should go from here will be the platform for the election. It is imperative that leaders and their parties - and the growing number of issue-based Independents seeking election - set out their priorities as clearly as possible for voters. There will be choices to be made between leaders, parties and policies in the forthcoming general election and the electorate must be in the best position to make an informed judgment in May.
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