Government entitled to our support

I READ an awful amount of rubbish over the weekend in some newspapers that would like us to take them seriously, about the formation of the new Government.

One newspaper accused Fine Gael of having “sold out” to the Labour Party while the editor of the same paper said he already regretted voting for Fine Gael on February 25 last.
Have these people any idea what coalition government means? Do they not realise that Fine Gael failed to win an overall majority? Just as previous Fianna Fáil administrations failed to win an overall majority since 1977 and had to deal with the Workers’ Party, the Progressive Democrats, the Labour Party, the Green Party and various Independents over the years in order to get into the seats of power.
I did not vote for Fine Gael in the recent election but that does not stop me from wishing them – and Labour – well now. I believe they are entitled to a chance. By their deeds we shall know them. They have been out of power for so long that we have no idea at this stage how they are going to perform. They may be a total disaster and they may sort out our problems. 
I am not going to prejudge the new Government but I will have things to say in the future.
Neither can I pass any judgement on the Programme for Government agreed between Fine Gael and Labour. It reads well and it promises a lot but there are so many issues passed over and so many questions dependent on other questions that we will have to wait and see how they get on.
The programme recognises the need for radical reform of our political system. That’s no big deal. The dogs in the street were calling out for political reform. Even Fianna Fáil in their dying days had joined the bandwagon demanding reform in this area.
So those who negotiated the programme did what politicians are excellent at doing – they kicked the can down the street. In other words, much of this promised political reform has been passed over to a constitutional convention that will issue a report in 12 months’ time.
We cannot blame them for that. We could hardly expect instant political reform. Seanad Éireann, for example, cannot be abolished immediately. There will have to be detailed drafting of legislation before the holding of a referendum on abolishing the Seanad. So don’t expect the Seanad to be abolished for a number of years yet.
There is also a fudge over the question of reducing the number of TDs to be elected. The Programme for Government gave no hint about how many TDs are to be culled in due course or when it will happen. But that was to be expected. We will have to wait and see. I have my doubts about the extent of the reduction but I cannot really comment on this issue until they tell us exactly what they are going to do about this question. Of course, I cannot help thinking about turkeys voting for Christmas.
But the fundamental criticism of Fine Gael over the weekend was that the party “sold out” its own supporters by going into coalition with Labour. That, however, is not a valid criticism and does not stand up to much scrutiny.
The people of this country have been crying out for stable Government for the past year and more. They might have got it if they had given Fine Gael – or any other party – an overall majority. But they chose not to do so.
Their priority was to get rid of Fianna Fáil. Then tens of thousands of people who had never done so before voted for Fine Gael to lead the neWGovernment.
Tens of thousands of others also voted in sufficient numbers to make Labour the second-biggest party.
Now there were several options open to Fine Gael. They could have formed a minority Government on their own and left it to the other parties and to the Independents either to support them or not to. That might have been an attractive option. If this minority Fine Gael Government fell in six or 12 months’ time, they could go back to the country seeking a stronger mandate and saying to the people: “we wanted to provide stable Government but they wouldn’t let us”. Who is to say the people would not give them what they wanted? But who is to say one way or the other? De Valera tried it and it worked; Haughey tried and it did not work.
They might also have done a deal with some like-minded Independents. Or they could have done some kind of deal either with Fianna Fáil or Sinn Féin, although those would not have been serious options.
They chose, however, not to go down any of those roads. Not even to explore any of those possibilities. They chose instead, without any hesitation, to agree a programme for government with their nearest rivals, the Labour Party. That was going to provide the most stable government of all and better to keep your rivals close to you than opposed to you.
There was never any doubt but Fine Gael and Labour would do business once they started talking. I had been for some time in this column calling for a national government to deal with a national emergency. Now we may not have a national government but at least we have the next best thing by having the two biggest parties in power together for the first time in our history.
They are entitled to the benefit of the doubt. They are entitled to our support at least until they start doing things wrong.
Of course, there will always be those who will attack them no matter what they do. But remember that all those other options will be still open to Fine Gael over the next five years if the marriage to Labour does not survive.
And what about the Opposition? Both Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin have promised to be constructive in Opposition. I suppose if we give the new Government the benefit of the doubt, the two main Opposition parties are also entitled to the same benefit. But I have never seen Opposition parties being anything but destructive in their opposition – apart from the constructive opposition provided by Alan Dukes-led Fine Gael between 1987 and 1989. Mr Dukes later paid a high price for that brief period of patriotism. So I do not see history repeating itself in that regard.
Anyway, I wish the best luck to all of them over the next five years. They are going to need it all.