A BRITTLE COALITION

Cracks emerge just hours after FF, FG and Greens sign historic deal

THE first cracks in the historic government coalition deal appeared last night – hours after it was struck.

The leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party yesterday finally signed off on a deal that paves the way for a coalition.

Despite the pact being seen as a ‘Green deal’, the Greens have emerged as the likeliest threat to the stability of the unprecedented triumvirate of the Civil War rivals and their own party.

However, the popularity of the coalition itself, as well as one of the leaders in Micheál Martin, is on the wane, according to a new poll. Furthermore, doctors have voiced their concerns about the nitty-gritty of the deal for the health sector in a post-Covid Ireland.

But it is the Greens, who have for weeks been seen as the fly in the ointment in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael’s

grand plan, and last night a shakiness in the Eamon Ryanled party’s backing emerged immediately.

While his deputy leader, Catherine Martin – who is vying for his leadership seat – is on board with the deal, there were a number of notable absentees in the Green vote to back it, including her own husband.

Furthermore, in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, doctors hit out at the scant detail in the document for the beleaguered healthcare sector.

And last night the issue of who would lead the Government took centre stage as a poll showed a massive dip in popularity for Micheál Martin’s Fianna Fáil.

The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI opinion poll also showed little appetite for the proposed coalition – with just 36% favouring it over another election.

The poll also showed a surge in current Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s

‘We don’t think in that fashion’

personal approval ratings – with 75% of respondents satisfied with Mr Varadkar. In comparison, Micheál Martin’s approval rating is at just 46.

The major stumbling block to sealing the deal now remains the Green Party, as it requires the backing of grassroots members, who are seen as more leftleaning in their politics.

Indeed, many of the party’s senior members appeared, on the face of it, against the pact.

The Green TDs voted by nine votes, with three abstentions, in favour of it. Deputy leader Ms Martin voted in favour of the deal. However, her husband, Dublin South West TD Francis Noel Duffy, abstained.

Neasa Hourigan, seen as a voice of the more extreme left wing of the party, and Dublin South Central TD Patrick

Costello, also abstained.

The party requires a twothirds majority from its 3,000 all-Ireland membership to approve the deal.

However, senior sources within the Greens warned their putative coalition partners: ‘Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael appear to be making the terribly dangerous mistake of taking us for granted.’ This strange deal, they said, ‘might be passing by acclamation across the two Civil War parties, but the Greens have higher standards’ – adding: ‘We don’t suffer from the herd mentality’.

They also warned: ‘We do not think or operate in that fashion. We do not need TDs to make our minds up for us.’

The Fianna Fáil parliamentary party last night approved the deal by an overwhelming majority. Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan, tipped as a potential leadership contender in the near future, also gave his backing to it. His support is seen as significant, given his high-profile omission from the negotiating team.

However, a group of 50 Fianna Fáil local councillors, claiming to have the support of 1,000 of the 15,000 Fianna Fáil membership, yesterday launched a ‘Fairer Future’ campaign to resist the deal.

Fine Gael TDs broadly supported the deal. However, Minister for Rural Affairs Michael Ring, who is tipped to lose his Cabinet seat, gave a blistering contribution denouncing the proposed coalition. He said the Greens in government would be devastating for rural Ireland. ‘By God, now that we have 12 of them in the Dáil and three of them in the Cabinet, we are going to have a serious problem with consent in rural Ireland,’ he said.

The 126-page Programme for Government document has been criticised by industry experts for its lack of specific targets and timelines.

The Irish Medical Organisation said the first indications were that the plans showed a ‘shocking lack of detail’ and ‘startling omissions’. Economist Jim Power described the housing targets of 50,000 social homes as ‘unrealistic’ and said it showed a failure to grasp ‘the depth of the housing crisis’. Opposition parties have also been quick to poke holes in the plan, pointing to a lack of targets and costings in crucial areas such as health and housing.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the three parties would ‘have to learn to trust each other’.

‘Learn to trust each other’