In the South, Fianna F_il has just experienced the kind of voter backlash that leaves political parties wondering if there is the prospect of long term survival, never mind success.
Of course, politics being what it is, there is yet the likelihood of both.
Fianna F_il is not going to fold its tent and ride off into the sunset. There will be better days for the soldiers of destiny.
And yet, there is a sense that even better days might never match the good old ones. The local and by-election results in addition to the outcome of the European poll have given Fine Gael the kind of boost that would have been unthinkable just a couple of years ago.
So, opportunity knocks indeed for Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny who has managed to steer his party into a position from which a follow-up general election victory would seem to be a shoe-in.
Kenny, not surprisingly, wants such an election as quickly as he can possibly get one. Brian Cowen and Fianna F_il will, however, be most reluctant to oblige and will probably hold on to power for as long as it can and that means 2012 at the latest.
Certainly, Fianna F_il’s partner in government, the Greens, will not want to face voters again anytime soon. The Greens were shredded in Friday’s poll.
Enda Kenny, nevertheless, is in a position to present a viable argument that the voters have signaled that they want a change in government and that might be difficult for the present coalition to resist should the Irish economy continue to deteriorate.
Labor, Fine Gael’s traditional coalition partner, also performed strongly while Sinn F