Could the COVID-19 crisis finally bring an end to Ireland’s Civil War politics?

THE Coronavirus has turned life in our country upside down in a matter of weeks with the simplest things we all took for granted snatched away overnight. Every aspect of day-to-day life has changed utterly for the people and, so too, have things changed dramatically for our political leaders.

Just a few short weeks ago – that seemingly distant and idyllic time when life was still normal and we had no concept of the disaster that was hurtling down the tracks towards us – the General Election shocked the nation.

Irish politics and identity had been turned on its head, we were told, and nothing would ever be the same again. How right we were, but for entirely the wrong reason.

In decades to come, 2020 will mainly be remembered for one thing, a global pandemic crisis, but when it comes time to write the history books there will be another hugely significant footnote to be added to Ireland’s story.

Understandably conversation and the headlines have been dominated by the COVID-19 crisis for the last three weeks but behind the scenes in Leinster House another significant drama is playing out in the corridors of power.

While Leo Varadkar and his caretaker administration are working around the clock to deal with the current crisis, senior figures from Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are working on a coalition deal to form a new government proper.

Unthinkable a decade ago and unlikely just a few years ago, a deal between the two parties now looks increasingly likely and with it an end to almost a century of, so called, Civil War politics in our Republic.

Our nation was born in the midst of the Great War and it seems bizarrely fitting that such a sea change in Irish politics should occur a century later amid another global crisis.

Should a deal be struck – and it seems a matter of when and not if – recent polling would suggest a majority of the people would be, at least generally, supportive of it.

Last weekend’s Red- C tracker poll – how one wishes for the days when such poll results were the main news of the day – showed Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil with combined support of 52 per cent among those polled.

Quite what that will mean for the government negotiations is still unclear, however, and we might need to wait until the results of the Seanad Election are known before we have a clear idea of how a Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil administration might work in practice.

Micheál Martin’s party has three more Dáil seats than Mr Varadkar’s but the caretaker Taoiseach and his party are riding high in the polls – deservedly so – thanks to their professional, bipartisan and adroit handling of the COVID-19 crisis.

Indeed, the government despised by many before the election has, thus far, done such a good job managing the crisis that many voters are now loath to see the horses changed mid stream.

Whatever happens it will be fascinating to see who ends up in the Taoiseach’s chair in a few weeks time. All is changed.