The Progressive Democrats will go into the next general election open to entering government with Fine Gael and Labour and will not be tied to the single option of coalition with Fianna Fáil, according to Tánaiste Mary Harney, writes Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent.
In a move which opens up the coalition possibilities after the next election, the PD leader said yesterday that her party is less concerned with the personalities who would be in government than with the policy programme it would agree.
"We would be as open to being in a Fine Gael-led government as a Fianna Fáil-led government," she told The Irish Times.
While the party may contest the next election seeking the return of the present combination, she said: "We are not tied to a Fianna Fáil-only option." She said she believed her party could serve in government with Fine Gael and Labour but she ruled out the Green Party, whose economic policies she described as "crazy".
She said she did not know what the Labour Party response would be to the suggestion. If the option arose, the parties would have to examine whether a coherent policy programme could be agreed between them, she said. "I don't know, but Pat Rabbitte is a very pragmatic man," she said.
However, a Labour Party spokesman said last night that his party's aim was to replace the two government parties with a coalition involving Labour, Fine Gael and the Green Party.
"The enthusiasm in Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats to try out new partners in the next election doesn't suggest they have any great confidence in being re-elected together," he said.
Labour's conference next month is expected to be asked to support Mr Rabbitte's strategy of seeking a formal pre-election pact with Fine Gael, ruling out Fianna Fáil as a possible coalition partner.
Ms Harney's comments yesterday came at the end of her party conference in Cork at which the PDs sought to define themselves as a radical niche party, setting ambitious targets for health service reform and claiming leadership of the recent campaign to pressurise Sinn Féin and the IRA to reject all paramilitarism and criminal activity.
In her speech on Saturday night she stated that Bertie Ahern, Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte were all "caring", as was her party.
She insisted hers was a policy-driven party which was open to different government options so long as they could have a substantial input into that government's policy. In relation to the Green Party, however, she said their economic policies were "crazy. . . They are so fundamentally different to ours that it just wouldn't work."
She said that the Greens favoured "high levels of tax on industry to protect the environment. We believe that increasing economic activity will raise the resources to invest in anti-pollution technology."
Ms Harney's statement reflects an acknowledgement that the Coalition is not guaranteed re-election, and is an attempt to leave open another possible government option for the PDs. It is also an attempt to define the party in terms of the policies it stands for, rather than as an adjunct of the larger coalition party, Fianna Fáil.
Analysis suggests that the next general election could produce an outcome that would allow for the formation of a Fine Gael/Labour/PD government, but the chances are not high.
Fine Gael and Labour have made it clear that if they gained the 25 extra seats that would bring them close to being able to form a government, they would prefer the Green Party, currently on six seats, to make up the numbers rather than the PDs. Only if the PDs - currently on eight seats - remained larger than the Greens and if all their votes were needed could the FG/Labour/PD option become a serious possibility.
Last night a spokesman for Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said Fine Gael's intention was to change the Government at the next election.
"We have a programme of work ahead of us to achieve that. We hope to continue working with the Labour Party to achieve that objective."