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Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has predicted a new government will not be formed before the end of March.<\/p>\nFormer Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has predicted a new government will not be formed before the end of March.<\/p>\n
He said work on creating a \u201cstable and sustainable\u201d coalition had not yet properly begun.<\/p>\n
A Sinn F\u00e9in surge during last weekend\u2019s General Election on a manifesto promising change in housing and health saw it become the third major party in Ireland.<\/p>\n
The first meeting of the Dail parliament on Thursday is unlikely to elect a new government.<\/p>\n
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Mr Ahern told RT\u00c9\u2019s The Week in Politics: \u201cWhen you are putting a Government together we have to look to the future as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not just about sorting out the present position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will have to take into account the election result and what is the policy formulation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said negotiators and party strategists needed to focus on housing, homelessness and health.<\/p>\n
\u201cOtherwise they will lock themselves into a major problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Taoiseach and Fianna F\u00e1il leader, Mr Ahern helped create the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which largely ended violence in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Sinn F\u00e9in topped the first preference poll following this month\u2019s election.<\/p>\n
Its total of 37 seats is one fewer than that of Fianna F\u00e1il.<\/p>\n
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar\u2019s Fine Gael won 35 seats.<\/p>\n
No single party has enough seats to govern and Sinn F\u00e9in appears to have failed to muster enough support from a coalition of small left-leaning parties and independent members of the new parliament.<\/p>\n
Fianna F\u00e1il has ruled out entering a coalition with Sinn F\u00e9in because of historic links to the IRA and wide policy differences over issues like how to run the economy.<\/p>\n
It is reportedly veering towards discussions with Fine Gael aimed at forming a grand coalition of two parties from opposite ends of Ireland\u2019s Civil War divide a century ago.<\/p>\n
The pair have dominated power since the state\u2019s formation.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Sinn F\u00e9in president Mary-Lou McDonald blasted \u201carrogant\u201d political rivals for denying her party a place in the next Irish government.<\/p>\n