Something of a thought experiment here... it's been said too many times that the only significant difference between FF and FG is that they are not each other. So what sort of GE 2007 results would it take for a grand coalition to be the most likely outcome?

Turns out it's not enormously hard to cook up those conditions. Assume SF makes a big leap, likely at the expense of Labour, and otherwise there's a bleed from the current coalition to rainbow, and we get the following:
Are numbers like the above in the realm of possibility for the next GE? What would happen if the Dáil was returned as such? Will a FF-FG coalition happen in our lifetimes?

How about

Christian Solidarity: 50

Socialist Workers Party: 50

Republican SF: 66

NOW THAT would be an interesting Dail!

Do those parties even have that many members?

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I doubt they have enough to nominate in enough areas to fill 2 seats but it would make debate more interesting.

RSF insisting the're the legit govt despite not having the mandate for it, constatnly harping on about 1919.

CSP demanding the gays be dealth with (perhaps in some kind of camp) and divorce be repealed.

Socialist Workers declare property to be theft and nationalise every square inch of land.

Tom what would be best in that situation is if the centre-left and left parties (Labour, SF, Green) formed a permenant election pact exluding FF and FG, it would force a permenant reallignment to a normal right left model and force the two in together.

Although the mandate for Sinn Féin does exist, I am unaware of Sinn Féin claiming to be the legitimate Government. Perhaps you could point me to the policy document?

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"I hereby declare that the Continuity Executive and the Continuity Army Council are the lawful Executive and Army Council respectively of the Irish Republican Army, and that the governmental authority, delegated in the Proclamation of 1938, now resides in the Continuity Army Council, and its lawful successors."

Comdt. General Thomas Maguire

Quite so.

The legitimate government is, of course, the 26-county administration.

Theres not a single democracy on earth where mandates last longer than 7 years before having to be renewed...sorry.

There are no left parties in the present government and they've been doing fine for ages now. If Labour & Green formed any alliance with SF, the main result would be their complete marginalisation, with SF eating up their hard left votes and other parties eating up their centrist votes.

I severly doubt all Labour and Green supporters would switch to FF and FG.

We should at least try what I sugested and see if that actually happens, it would mean an actual choice at the elections.

Not between the centre-right and centre with a dash of red and green.