Parties strike draft coalition deal

Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach-designate Enda Kenny
12 April 2012

Fine Gael and Labour negotiators have struck a draft deal for coalition government in the Irish republic, which they are to put to their rank and file in separate meetings.

Party leaders Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore were handed a proposed blueprint for partnership on Saturday night.

The deal will be put before a 1,000-strong Labour Party special delegate conference, while Fine Gael will seek the backing of its TDs and senators.

The negotiations at Government Buildings have been complex, with the parties at odds over the length of time it will take to turn around the budget deficit, tax, public sector cuts, water charges and how to tackle bondholder responsibility for banking debts.

While negotiators went head-to-head bargaining on policies, Taoiseach-designate Enda Kenny was in Helsinki earlier this week for a meeting of the European People's Party, to which Fine Gael is affiliated.

He rubbed shoulders with EU leaders including European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

The contacts were intended to open the door for a charm offensive and garner support to renegotiate the 85 billion euro (£73 billion) loans.

Labour leader Mr Gilmore travelled to Athens for a meeting of the Party of European Socialists.

The party negotiators have been taking briefings from economist Colm McCarthy, the Department of Finance, the National Treasury Management Agency and Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan.

Both sides claimed the information confirmed the depth of the crisis facing the country.

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