Labour's only hope is if they do well enough in the next election to be the majority partner in Government.  Historically, the minority partner always losses out - Chiefly Labour, but also the PDs, Workers Party, Greens etc.

I can't see either Fine Gael or Fianna Fail agreeing to be a minority partner with Labour, so that leaves a FF/FG coalition - Grandly entitled a National Coalition, but in reality a coalesing of the old guards.

That would leave Ireland with the standard European left/right split, but with the left keeping its hands clean of the current debacle.  Most people can't see the difference between FF and FG anyway, but there's nothing like a joint Government to expose their ideological near identity and the irrelevance of the split between them.

Index of Frank's Diaries