Ireland cannot afford election deadlock

DUBLIN: Ireland’s recovering economy cannot afford a spell of political uncertainty after an election this month, with further shocks to the global economy "a firm possibility", Deputy Prime Minister Joan Burton said on Friday.

Ireland votes on Feb 26 in what promises to be a tight contest that opinion polls suggest may fail to produce a stable government, as happened in Spain where parties are no closer to forming a coalition weeks after the election there.

Burton’s Labour Party is bidding to return to power with the larger Fine Gael party of Prime Minister Enda Kenny but polls put them some way short of securing a majority and support for Kenny’s party is slipping.

"Six weeks after a general election in Spain, they are still trying to form a government. At this stage in our recovery, this is a luxury that Ireland cannot afford," Deputy Prime Minister Joan Burton told a news conference."

The global economic outlook is uncertain and further economic shocks are a firm possibility so this is not the time to take risks.

It was the first time either government party has explicitly raised the possibility of a similar outcome to Spain, a message they are likely to repeat in the hope that nervous voters prefer to play it safe.

If they fail to close the gap or come close enough to cobble together a government with smaller parties or independents, commitments made by the various parties over who they would not govern with will be tested.

Sinn Fein, which a poll suggested on Thursday could win a more seats than the outgoing coalition if they teamed up with the larger Fianna Fail opposition party, reiterated that it would not serve as a minority partner in government.

The two opposition parties would also be a few percentage points short of a majority and Fianna Fail has said it would not govern with left-wing Sinn Fein under any circumstances.

The election result in Spain has plunged the country into its most fraught political situation in decades, threatening to bring in a period of instability just as its recovers from a long economic crisis.