Rancor on the rise

Relations between the partners are at an all-time low after Fianna Fail’s disastrous showing in the recent European and local council elections.
Minister for Communications Dermot Ahern Saturday lambasted the free-market economic thinking associated with Tanaiste Harney’s party. In a speech to his party organization in County Louth, Ahern said that he would not let market forces define Irish society and that he rejected the “winner takes all” approach to modern economic policy.
“In economic and social policy, Fianna Fail rejects the notion that the state should take a back seat and allow unbridled market forces shape our country,” Ahern said.
“Fianna Fail rejects the classic neo-liberal stance on inequality. We reject the winner takes all approach. We reject the policies which place on emphasis on equality of opportunity while providing only a modicum of social protections.
“At their worst these policies are active drivers of alienation, higher crime rates and educational drop-out. At their worst these policies corrode social cohesion.”
While refraining from attacking the Progressive Democrats outright, Ahern’s speech has been widely perceived as a stinging rebuke to the policies endorsed by Harney and Justice Minister Michael McDowell. Several senior Fianna Failers are thought to have privately called on Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to ditch the coalition partners.
Harney responded Monday saying that government policy was the responsibility of both parties and that the Progressive Democrats would not accept being scapegoat.
“It requires two people to want that to be possible and certainly there will be no question of people seeking to scapegoat the Progressive Democrats in this government,” she said.
Yesterday, however, Dermot Ahern stood by his remarks on inequality — which were seen as direct attack on McDowell, who has said in the past that a certain degree of inequality was a good thing for the Irish economy. Ahern said he remained friendly with McDowell but that his party represented a different social strata from the Progressive Democrats.
Many within Fianna Fail blame the Progressive Democrats for the slump in popularity and believe they exert a disproportionate influence on government policy.
The taoiseach appeared to stand by Dermot Ahern’s speech after his spokesperson told the Irish Times that he had no problem with the comments and that they merely reflected Fianna Fail’s core values.
Senior members of Ahern’s party have been briefing heavily behind the scenes about a need to readdress the terms of the relationship between the two parties. Some have hinted at the possibility of forming an alternative coalition government with a number of Fianna Fail-minded independent TDs.
Many believe that a combination of Harney’s right-wing economic policies and McDowell?s attacks on Sinn Fein have undermined Fianna Fail’s core objectives. There have been signs that the party is now determined to be seen to reclaim its historic attachment to social justice and republican goals.
Minister John O?Donoghue responded to Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams’s statement on RTE television last week that Sinn Fein wanted a united Ireland saying: “Fianna Fail are republicans too. We want a united Ireland too.”
However, many believe that Ahern will be loathe to make a dramatic move against the Progressive Democrats and that the coalition will remain largely intact until the next Dail election. Ahern has already promised a reshuffle of his cabinet and many say that this will be as far as he will go.