FF and FG both rule out any future coalition with SF

Independent Alliance minister backs Fianna Fail proposal to deal with ‘excessive’ water use

THE country’s political leaders last night categorically ruled out entering into a coalition government with Sinn Fein here in the aftermath of the success of Gerry Adams’s party in the Northern Ireland assembly elections.

Sinn Fein won 27 seats in the election — just one short of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

However, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin and three of the contenders in the Fine Gael leadership race yesterday insisted they would not form a government with Adams’s party in the Dail in the future.

The comments came as the threat of a general election south of the Border increased last week as the row over water charges flared. Yesterday, the possibility of an election heightened further after Independent Alliance Minister John Halligan said he supported Fianna Fail’s stance on targeting water wasters using existing legislation.

“If the legalisation is already there what is the point in bringing in new legislation,” Halligan told the Sunday Independent. He also backed Fianna Fail’s proposal to refund customers rather than Fine Gael’s plan to chase those who did not pay.

Writing in today’s Sunday Independent, ex-Tanaiste Joan Burton’s former chief of staff Ed Brophy states that the next government is likely to be a coalition of Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein.

“The next government will either be another donothing minority, with all

the problems that entails, or else a historic rapprochement between Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein,” Brophy said.

However, Micheal Martin reaffirmed his party’s position: “I am not even contemplating government with Sinn Fein. Sinn Fein has not changed, so government with Sinn Fein will not be considered.”

He told the Sunday Independent: “Sinn Fein is not fit for government in the Republic.” Martin also said: “Proper and genuine power sharing in the Northern assembly should be Sinn Fein’s priority.”

Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar said Fine Gael and Sinn Fein are “polar opposites” in terms of policy on the economy, Europe and globalisation.

Housing Minister Simon Coveney also said he did not think the two parties were in “any way compatible”. Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald also confirmed she would “absolutely not” enter into a government with Sinn Fein, as its policies are a “million miles apart” from Fine Gael.

The final seat count in the assembly election finished with the DUP on 28 seats, Sinn Fein on 27, SDLP on 12, UUP on 10 and Alliance on eight.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan called on the Northern Ireland parties to establish a power-sharing executive which would “operate effectively and deliver for all of the people of Northern Ireland in a spirit of partnership and mutual respect”.

“As co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement and subsequent agreements, the Irish and British Governments stand ready to provide whatever support or engagement may be necessary to re-establish the devolved institutions,” Flanagan said.

Meanwhile, the stand-off between Fine Gael and Fianna Fail continued yesterday. Simon Coveney said he would not be compromising with Fianna Fail on the party’s proposal to use the existing legislation, under the Water Service Act 2007, to stop people wasting water.

Coveney said he would not allow a situation where people are “criminalised” for using excessive amounts of water. “Dealing with the excess use of water by taking people to court and fining them is madness,” he told the Sunday Independent.

However, Fianna Fail’s housing spokesman Barry Cowen hit back and said it was “nonsense” to suggest his party would criminalise people for wasting water.

Fianna Fail has suggested introducing a penalty points system for water wasters. Legal advice the party received proposed the introduction of a “fixed charge notices system akin to that operated at present in the sphere of motor vehicles”.

The Oireachtas Committee on the Future Funding of Domestic Water Services will meet this week to finalise its report on water charges.

Coveney angered members of the committee last week when he publicly intervened to warn against recommending a proposal which would result in anti-pollution EU fines.

He said he was not seeking to “score political points” or “pick a fight” by speaking out before the committee published its report.

The minister said he wanted to “raise a red flag” because he believed the proposal on the table was not “legally sound” and was at odds with the advice of the Attorney General.

He said he has “an open mind” on refunds for water bill payers but said it “grated” on him that non-payers would avoid being penalised.