Sharing power is the hardestpart of coalition formation, writes Denis Coghlan, Chief Political Correspondent
"Give us time," the Fianna Fáil man pleaded. "We have three weeks to work out a deal and five years to live with it."
After a spectacular election result, the Soldiers of Destiny were taking it easy. No point in rushing fences if you fall flat on your face. And Bertie Ahern is a consummate strategist, with three national agreements under his belt to prove it. As usual, he had embarked on a "softlee, softlee, catchee monkey" approach.
The Taoiseach was unwell. Not seriously. Just a bit of a flu and tiredness after a hectic three weeks of campaigning. Last Monday he decided to take a few days out for rest and recuperation. Nothing, he decreed, other than some political kite-flying, was to take place before next week.
The hiatus suited the party. After all, a result was still awaited from Cork South Central where John Dennehy was fighting to push Fianna Fáil's seat tally to 81. And if Mildred Fox won in Wicklow, that would allow her to join Jackie Healy-Rae and Neil Blaney in a revised support club, even before Independent Fianna Fáil TDs Paddy McHugh and James Breen were considered.
There were the makings of a government there all right. But, having identified the ingredients, senior Fianna Fáil sources began to find reasons why it wouldn't work. Party discipline would be shredded if the two recently rebellious Fianna Fáilers were embraced, they said. And there was the perennial risk of defections.
Still, given the Dáil arithmetic, it was an option that had to be explored before it could be excluded. Otherwise, disappointed place-seekers on the Fianna Fáil benches might suggest the Taoiseach was a wimp; afraid to seize power alone.
Mary Harney was also playing games. In an RTÉ interview she spoke of parliamentary party members who were anxious to explore options outside of coalition. But she didn't name them. And she concluded - just as Mr Ahern had consistently done - that her own preference was for a repeat of the last coalition arrangement. That, she said, was the mandate given to them by the electorate.
The newly-invigorated Progressive Democrats will meet tomorrow in Dublin. The gathering will be as much about establishing a new pecking order within the parliamentary party as agreeing strategy. The Attorney General, Michael McDowell, will be anxious to emphasise his credentials as a former TD and founding party member before government posts are shared out. The competition will be fierce, with Liz O'Donnell also bidding for a Cabinet place and Tom Parlon well in the hunt.
The Tánaiste doesn't relish the prospect of the party in-fighting that is likely to develop. And she has spoken about the need for a speedy negotiation process before the Dáil meets on June 6th. Even there, ruffled feathers are likely. Back in 1997 Bobby Molloy and Liz O'Donnell formed the PDs' negotiating team and both were promoted. Being on the team is a ticket to government.
In Fianna Fáil there is similar tension. Last time Dermot Ahern and Noel Dempsey did the business. And while the Taoiseach has yet to formally nominate his negotiating team, Séamus Brennan and Noel Dempsey have made much of the preliminary running.
Promotion and demotion beckon. And policy initiatives, along with departmental restructuring, will allow any incoming government to hit the ground running.
Both Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats committed themselves to the establishment of a new Department with responsibility for transport - road, rail and air - in their election literature. And Ms Harney is said to want out of her old berth at Enterprise, Trade and Employment. As a good-news, pro-enterprise ministry, it could be made to measure.
Before the election Mr Ahern announced that the Government had signed off on the transfer of 10,000 public and civil servants out of Dublin in the biggest-ever decentralisation programme. And he linked that development with a national spatial strategy that would identify development towns throughout the regions.
Negotiations with the unions involved in decentralisation and a strategy designed to lead to urban regeneration will be part of that confidence-building process in the coming months.
The Taoiseach has his own problems. If he does a deal with the eight-strong Progressive Democrats he can expect to pay a price of at least two senior government positions and one junior - as was exacted by Des O'Malley, with six TDs, in 1989.
Mary O'Rourke's defeat in the election creates a senior Fianna Fáil vacancy, while Hugh Byrne and Tom Moffatt fell out of the junior ranks. But there are many more ambitious Fianna Fáil TDs than there are places to appease them.
Doing a deal is easy. Doing the right deal is what makes a successful leader.