On 8 February 2020 the Irish people went to the polls to elect Dáil Éireann, the 160-seat lower house of the Irish parliament. The result was remarkable for two main reasons. Firstly, Sinn Féin, traditionally a fringe-dweller of politics in the Republic of Ireland, had received the highest number of first-preference votes, and with 37 seats was the second largest party. Secondly, no party had won sufficient seats to govern in its own right or even in coalition with one other party. The governing party, Fine Gael, had won only 35 seats, while its main rival Fianna Fáil had picked up 38 seats. The remaining 50 seats were shared among 6 parties and 19 independents. Of the six parties, the Greens with 12 had the highest number of seats.

It took more than four months for a coalition government to be formed between Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens on the basis of a Programme for Government agreed to by the political leaders and the rank and file members of the three parties. It was an improbable outcome given that the first two parties had been traditional rivals for almost 100 years and neither shared much in common with the third. Whether the coalition holds together until the next election due in 2025 is yet to be seen, as is the future for Sinn Féin. As the major opposition party it has an opportunity to promote itself as the alternative government.

In a series of articles for the online blog Pearls and Irritations published between February and July, I examined in their historical context the election results and the manoeuvring that led to the formation of the new government.

The online articles are as follows:
14 February 2020: End of the Irish Civil War?
1 June 2020: Still No Government
23 June 2020: Are we there yet?
1 July 2020: Habemus Taoiseach

The four posts can be read as a single article here in the articles section of this website.