Michael Sercan Daventry
February 28, 2016•Update: February 29, 2016
DUBLIN
Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny accepted late Saturday that his Fine Gael party cannot resurrect its five-year coalition with Labour but vowed to form a fresh government.
Dozens of Fine Gael and Labour Party lawmakers lost their seats in parliament following Friday’s vote as people deserted the governing parties over the tough austerity measures imposed after the 2011 economic collapse.
“Clearly the government of Fine Gael and Labour are not going to be returned to office and obviously one has to wait until all of the counts are in right across the country to see what the options that must be considered are,” Kenny told Irish broadcaster RTE.
He added: “As Taoiseach [prime minister] I have a duty and a responsibility as head of government in continuing with this role to see how best we can put together a government for the future because clearly the country needs a government and must have one.”
Kenny refused to speculate on the prospect of a coalition with Fianna Fail, the center-right opposition that took 24.3 percent of first preference votes behind Fine Gael’s 25.5 percent.
Second and third preference votes remained uncounted in some areas Sunday, leaving more than 60 parliamentary seats still up for grabs.
Nationalist party Sinn Fein performed strongly, appearing set to become the third largest party. In a sign of voter fragmentation an disillusion with mainstream parties, nearly 30 percent voted for smaller parties and independent candidates.
