A dire failure of leadership from the Dáil

IN WHAT seems to be an attempt to steamroll Fine Gael dissenters into a coalition with Fianna Fáil, the Taoiseach is threatening the so-called nuclear option of a fresh general election if the impasse cannot be resolved. No one wants another day at the polls, and Enda Kenny’s strongarm tactics look like a final, pathetic expression of power from a man who let it slip from his grasp.

There also are murmurings within Fianna Fáil that, despite leader Micheál Martin’s resistance to coalition, the option may have to be reluctantly entertained. Meanwhile, the third biggest party, Sinn Féin, appears to have no wish to enter government at all but to remain on the sidelines.

As our writer Gary Murphy points out in his column on page 25 of today’s MoS, it is an appalling situation that any in our political class would rather be in opposition than in government.

Interpreted kindly, it could be seen as a failure of nerve, though it is more likely a cynical attempt to hold out in a bid to win even more seats next time around. This prevarication is an insult to the legacy of those who sacrificed their lives in 1916; they, after all, passionately wanted to govern, not sit on the fence.

It now looks as if President Higgins will be called upon to exert pressure on the parties to form a government, and while his intervention would be welcome, it should not be necessary.

Yes, we expect leadership from a president, but not in forming a government. In that sphere, leadership should, and must, come from the party leaders, and they need to display it with intelligence and imagination now.