Introduction

Each of the five coalitions that have formed in the history of the Irish state has been the only alternative to a single-party (Fianna Fail) government. There can be no doubt that this is the single most salient feature of the politics of coalition in Ireland. In the first place it means that Ireland is a member, with Norway and Sweden, of that small group of countries in which coalitions and single-party governments tend to alternate in office. In the second place, it is an idiosyncratic member even of this exclusive club. Fianna Fail, the institution of single-party government, is a populist party of the centre-right, and has always refused to share power with anyone. This means that the coalitions that must form to replace it in office, unlike those in Norway and Sweden, have always needed to span the entire ideological range of Irish politics. While the ideological range of mainstream Irish politics is much narrower than that to be found in most European democracies, this nevertheless means that coalition members have been forced either to put up with or to forget considerable policy differences if they wanted to remain in power.

The normal processes of coalition bargaining are severely constrained in Ireland. Bargaining power in coalition negotiations is usually denominated, ultimately, in threats to bring down the government. Such threats depend upon the existence of viable alternative coalitions.