Election Special 2002: FF WAIT ON MAJORITY DECISION

RAPID-fire election results kept the entire country holding its breath last night as Fianna Fail continued to dismiss the possibility of an overall majority government.

Pundits and election strategists predicted a total of 83 seats for Fianna Fail, a huge drop to 32 for Fine Gael, an increase to six seats for the PDs, a total of five for Sinn Fein, 22 for Labour, one Socialist and around 11 independents.

The make-up of the next government still remained wide open last night, but Bertie Ahern will certainly lead it. It also remained to be seen if he will stick to his claim that he won't do business with Sinn Fein after the party made massive gains.

PD leader Mary Harney ruled out going back into government with Fianna Fail if the party does manage an overall majority.

Early results looked set to deliver at least 82 and possibly more seats to Fianna Fail. Just two more seats would give the party a majority in the 29th Dail.

It appeared that Fine Gael would return with as few as 32 seats, losing 20 or more, or a massive 40 per cent of those it held.

It also appeared Labour would not make the significant gains it predicted, but the party put a brave face on it last night.

Even senior Fianna Fail sources refused to call the result, although fingers were secretly crossed for an overall majority.

One party spokesperson said: "It's still a bit too early. We are still saying we'll get 82 or 83 seats. We are very pleased with our performance in this election.

"And we're particularly pleased with our vote management strategy, which has delivered seats far above what we would have imagined."

The overall shape of the Dail looked set to deliver several extra independents, up to three new Green Party TDs and up to five Sinn Fein deputies. This confirmed Sinn Fein's prediction that its gains would be "the story" of the election.

One Labour source said last night the party had put in a "solid" performance, but conceded the election hadn't brought in the extra seats hoped for.

The source added: "We still don't have our final figures, but we will be coming in with an increase in seats and that's heartening.

"But the loss of Dick Spring was not just a blow for us, but to Irish politics generally. We certainly won't get as many seats as we had hoped, but we put in a good performance."

Copyright 2002 MGN LTD
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