| Associated Press Wed 18-FEB-1987 18:43 Irish Election
By MARCUS ELIASON
Associated Press Writer
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald
virtually conceded defeat Wednesday in Ireland's general election,
saying it was ``fairly clear'' that challenger Charles Haughey
would win his job.
He added, however, that Haughey's prediction of a majority in
Parliament had not yet been achieved.
``It seems fairly clear at this stage that on March 10 Mr.
Haughey is likely to be elected as taoiseach. Whether with an
overall majority is certainly not clear at this stage,'' FitzGerald
said in an interview with the state television.
Parliament convenes March 10 to elect as taoiseach, or prime
minister, the man whose party controls the most seats. FitzGerald
and Haughey, both 61, have alternated in the job since 1979.
Pat Heneghan, a spokesman for FitzGerald's Fine Gael party, said
Haughey's Fianna Fail party probably would capture 84 seats in the
166-seat Dail as a result of Tuesday's vote, up from 71 previously.
He said that, barring surprises as the slow hand count of 1.8
million paper ballots progressed, his party would win only 53
seats, down from 68 in the outgoing Dail.
Earlier in the day, Haughey told the state television: ``I'm
quite happy at this state that we are on target for 84 seats or
more.''
With 65 of the 166 seats decided, Fianna Fail led Fine Gael
38-16, with seven going to the newly formed center-right
Progressive Democrats. Independents and splinter groups took four.
The picture could change with the count and as seats are
allocated under the complex formula that allows voters to list
several candidates in order of preference.
Fianna Fail had 47 percent of the vote, up one point from the
1982 election, and Fine Gael plunged 11 percent to 30. FitzGerald's
party dropped a disastrous 17.8 percent in greater Dublin, the
party's traditional power base, and was down 15 points even in the
prime minister's own constituency.
Haughey, bidding for his third term, has said a majority is
vital for tackling Ireland's devastated economy.
Asked by a British reporter whether his election would harm
Anglo-Irish relations, given his prickly nationalist stance in the
past, he said: ``I have been taoiseach in this country before and I
had quite satisfactory Anglo-Irish relations. No great problem.''
Haughey has caused some alarm in Britain by attacking the 1985
Anglo-Irish agreement FitzGerald negotiated to give the Roman
Catholic minority in British-ruled Northern Ireland a new deal. It
gives the Irish Republic a consultative role in the
Protestant-dominated province's affairs.
Although Haughey has said he will abide by it, he also would
like to renegotiate clauses he believes conflict with Ireland's
longstanding claim to sovereignty over the six counties.
FitzGerald is assured of a place in history for bring the
agreement about. His high-tax austerity policies, which he said
were made necessary by big-spending predecessors, were unpopular
but the affable, avuncular economist is well-liked and widely
respected.
Fine Gael's lost votes apparently were going to the Progressive
Democrats, who have hoped to hold the balance of power if Haughey
failed to achieve a majority. That would cause complications
because party leader, Desmond O'Malley has said he will not support
a government led by Haughey, his long-time foe.
``There has been a massive swing away from Fine Gael and the
figures suggest it has gone to the Progressive Democrats,'' analyst
Richard Sinnott said on state television.
Another casualty was the Labor Party, which with 14 seats had
been Fine Gael's junior partner in the FitzGerald coalition. It
appeared to be losing more than half its vote, much of it to the
Marxist Workers' Party.
FitzGerald and Haughey were re-elected comfortably in their
Dublin districts.
Sinn Fein, the outlawed Irish Republican Army's legal political
wing, was far from winning any seats in the first count, but still
stood an outside chance in the Dublin Central district depending on
the spread of second-preference votes.
Sinn Fein ran for the first time since dropping its 65-year-old
boycott of the Dail in November.
The election represented a remarkable comeback for Haughey, a
charismatic figure who commands reverence among his supporters but
has been tarnished by scandal during 30 years in politics.
His nine-month 1982 administration was marked by government
scandals, including tapping the telephones of two unsympathetic
journalists.
The miscues were so sustained that Haughey called them
``grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre, unprecedented.'' The first
letters of those words - ``gubu'' - entered the language here as a
derisive Irishism for government misbehavior.
His main task will be to trim the debt of 24 billion pounds ($36
billion), which is three times larger per capita thatn Mexico's,
and an unemployment rate of 19.6 percent that is second only to
Spain's in the European Common Market.
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| Associated Press Tue 10-MAR-1987 12:48 Ireland-Politics
Haughey Elected Prime Minister in Parliamentary Cliffhanger
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Charles Haughey won a third term as
Ireland's prime minister today in a cliffhanger session of
Parliament that gave him a one-vote majority.
The Dail, or parliament, split 82-82 after debate on his
nomination. Speaker Sean Treacy then used his vote to break the tie
in Haughey's favor.
All four opposition parties united in voting against Haughey,
whose Fianna Fail party won 81 seats in the Feb. 17 election. All
the opposition parties in the 166-seat body nominated their own
leaders for taoiseach, or prime minister. None had any chance of
winning, but Haughey's prospects were not certain until almost the
last minute.
Haughey's election was assured when Marxist independent Tony
Gregory announced his abstention shortly before the ballot.
Haughey was supported by his Fianna Fail party and also got the
vote of Neil Blaney, an independent and an anti-British nationalist.
Blaney signaled potential trouble for Haughey when he said his
support was conditional on the new government ``reviewing'' the
1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement on Northern Ireland.
Blaney said he opposed the agreement because ``it gives the
British the right to be in this country.'' The agreement gives
Ireland a say in the running of Northern Ireland, but also contains
Irish recognition of long-term British sovereignty over the
province, which Irish nationalists contend is part of Ireland.
Britain has warned it will not accept any change of the
agreement until it comes up for review in November 1988 as
stipulated in its text.
Blaney also demanded an end to the extradition of Irish
nationalist guerrilla suspects from Ireland to Northern Ireland -
another issue that could strain Anglo-Irish relations.
Fine Gael, holding 52 seats, nominated FitzGerald. The
Progressive Democrats, a newly formed center-right party holding 14
seats, proposed leader Desmond O'Malley, the 11-seat socialist
Labor Party nominated leader Dick Spring, who was deputy to
FitzGerald in the outgoing Labor-Fine Gael coalition, and the
Marxist four-seat Workers Party nominated its leader, Tomas MacGiolla.
Independed socialist Jim Kemmy also voted against Haughey.
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| Associated Press Sat 21-MAR-1987 18:12 BRF--Irish Politics
Former Irish Finance Minister to Head Main Opposition Party
DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Alan Dukes, a former finance minister and
a political liberal, on Saturday was elected leader of Ireland's
main opposition Fine Gael party.
Dukes, 42, succeeds former Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald, who
resigned after losing the Feb. 17 general election to Charles
Haughey's Fianna Fail party.
As leader of the main opposition party, Dukes is well-placed to
become prime minister eventually. Haughey lacks a majority in the
Dail, or parliament, and became prime minister on a tie-breaking
vote by the speaker. Ireland has had four general elections in the
past six years.
Dukes, elected to the Dail in 1981, has also served as minister
of agriculture and justice minister.
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