WINNING two seats out of three in Limerick West was perhaps Fine Gael's biggest constituency success in the general election, even more so than its three out of five in Mayo.
The former minister for foreign affairs, Mr Gerard Collins, however, looked at it very differently and described the result, using the famous words of Mr Albert Reynolds, as a "temporary little arrangement".
In the two Limerick constituencies the Rainbow went into the election with just three seats out of eight, but the split in the Fianna Fail party in Limerick West meant that Government and Opposition ended up with four seats each.
If the success of Senator Dan Neville and Mr Michael Finucane in the western constituency was a major event in Limerick, the constituency of Limerick East, which includes the city, went close enough to causing at least two upsets.
The massive backlash against Labour left Limerick's former mayor, Mr Jim Kemmy, floundering with just 2,702 first preference votes, but he picked up transfers in good numbers from all candidates to achieve the apparently impossible and eventually hold his seat on the 10th count with 7,173 votes, without reaching the quota.
Fianna Fail's Mr Willie O'Dea came in at the top of the poll with more than 12,500 votes and was elected on the first count with Health Minister, Mr Michael Noonan of Fine Gael, who broke the 10,000 mark.
This left the Fianna Fail second string, Mr Eddie Wade, sure of election and he finally made it on the ninth count.
But it was the fight for the final two seats in Limerick East that caught the imagination, not only locally but throughout the State. Two major figures, the former leader of the Progressive Democrats, Mr Des O'Malley, and Mr Kemmy seemed to be in danger, with the comparatively unknown Democratic Left candidate Mr John Ryan, polling very strongly and finishing more than 700 votes ahead of Mr Kemmy and 900 behind Mr O'Malley on the first count.
It became clear very quickly that Mr O'Malley was going to keep his seat - he made it on the ninth count with 8,419 votes, declaring himself delighted to be back" but expressing regret that in the 28th Dail the PDs would be "numerically weaker than anticipated".
The battle between Mr Ryan and Mr Kemmy took its decisive turn in the seventh count when the votes of Mr Kemmy's eliminated running mate, Ms Jan O'Sullivan were distributed. Gaining 1,116 votes to Mr Ryan's 433, Mr Kemmy went ahead of his opponent for the first time and stayed there until the end when Mr Ryan's transfers put him through. In Limerick West tension was high from the start. Two Fianna Fail candidates, Mr Gerard Collins's brother, Mr M.J. Collins, and Mr John Clifford, faced opposition from two of their former colleagues, Mr Michael Brennan and Mr John Gallahue, as well as from Fine Gael's Senator Dan Neville and outgoing TD Mr Michael Finucane. To complicate matters further, the PD candidate, Ms Jeannette McDonnell, had a strong Fianna Fail background, being a cousin of the Collins family.
It would be an understatement to say there was bitterness in the campaign locally, and Mr Gerard Collins gave an inkling of divisions further afield and he described Mr Gallahue as "the former private secretary of Willie O'Dea, a junior minister in the Reynolds administration".
There were further complications in the form of a recount and the fact that Mr Clifford's name erroneously appeared under that of Mr M.J. Collins on the ballot paper.
In the end Fine Gael's vote management was superb, with Sen Neville topping the poll on 7,026 votes and Mr Finucane coming third on 5,480. Mr M.J. Collins and Sen Neville were elected on the sixth count with 11,693 and 8,601 respectively. Mr Finucane went into the seventh and final count with a lead of 1,449 over Mr Brennan and was elected following the distribution of Mr Collins's surplus.
