Well, I think every time Fine Gael have been in government, it's been with Labour as a junior partner. This time there is the potential for Labour to get at least on a par with Fine Gael which might change their outlook if a coalition were to form. Also, they have been agreeing on very little recently, other than opposition to the current crowd.

Fine gael are probably more economically liberal, but socially conservative compared to Fianna Fail. They traditonally had a Christian ethos, as opposed to Fianna Fail's republicanism, and had their origins in the pro-treaty side in the irish civil war, while Fianna Fail came from the anti-treaty side.

Still, both parties are reasonably centrist, but prior to the current crisis Fianna fail would have had a broader spectrum of support.



He's the president of Sinn fein for both parts. It's the one party. He's technically an MP but has never taken his seat, in line with the Sinn Fein policy. He was an MLA until last year, I believe. He's going to be running for the Dail in this election.



That does seem like a difficult situation. Is there much a middle ground between any of the Flemish and Francophone parties other than the largest two? And where do the German speakers fit into that whole configuration?