There's a general consensus among commentators that Bertie Ahern's adamant refusal to contemplate a coalition with Sinn Féin was designed to take some of the spotlight away from both the Fine Gael conference and the PDs twentieth anniversary celebrations at the weekend. There's also the calculation that a section of FF voters are very uneasy at the prospect of sharing power with Sinn Féin - although no doubt there is an even larger block of the party's supporters that would welcome a pan-nationalist coalition, perhaps pending reunification of the great republican movement?
Both Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats will make fear of Sinn Féin a significant weapon in their electoral arsenal. For their part Sinn Féin believe that Bertie Ahern may have no choice but to do business with them. In a rather rambling editorial in this morning's Irish Times, the writer makes a very salient point in the last paragraph:
By attacking Sinn Féin's economic policies as the main barrier to government, Mr Ahern has taken the focus off IRA decommissioning and the organisation's commitment to democratic politics. At the same time, he has attempted to distinguish between forms of government on both sides of the Border. It is not a distinction that has recommended itself to the Democratic Unionist Party and he may yet regret it.
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