THE Progressive Democrat leader, Ms Mary Harney, has welcomed the Tanaiste's statement that the Labour Party would not be going into coalition with Fianna Fail after the general election.
"People will be delighted to hear they are going into opposition," she said of Mr Spring's statement, made in his speech to the party conference at the weekend.
The PDs would be contesting seats in 26 to 30 constituencies,
Harney said, and hoped to win 15 seats. She believed the floating vote which supported Labour in the last general election would this time go to the Progressive Democrats.
She believed Mr Spring's, remarks would focus voters minds on the options in an election which "for the first time since 1977" offered them a choice.
Ms Harney, who was visiting the site of a proposed waste recycling plant in Ballaghaderreen, Co Roscommon, which has met with local opposition, also criticised Mr Spring's delineation of Irish politics on centre left, centre right lines, saying "80 per cent of the people support Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the PDs. It is a case of 20 per cent versus 80 per cent, rather than simply centre right versus centre left."
She also said she would like to hear what the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, has to say about Mr Spring's analysis, and said she believed the present Coalition would only succeed in returning to office with the support of the Green Party and Independents. "How many parties will you have (in the Government) then?"
Referring to the differences between Fianna Fail and the PDs on water charges, she said she felt these could be overcome and that the two parties were "very compatible" on taxation and crime matters. She also believed the PDs were compatible with "traditional Fine Gael".
Commenting on the proposed recycling plant, Ms Harney queried the sale of the site - which is on an IDA industrial estate - to a private concern without public auction. She wondered whether publicly owned property could be disposed of in this private fashion and said she would be raising the matter with the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton.
