THE DEAL:IT WAS over before it began. The deal was effectively done at 8pm on Saturday when Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny met Labour leader Eamon Gilmore.
It was never going to be otherwise. Fine Gael and Labour were set on doing a deal, knowing they would be castigated by voters if they failed.
Both parties privately agreed last night that long years in opposition meant they were ready for government.
“Eamon wanted a late-night statement,” said a Fine Gael source. “You cannot rush into these arrangements,” said a Labour source.
Sources from both parties agreed that when they met there would be an arrangement for government, no matter what.
Mr Kenny rang Mr Gilmore last Monday and they had an hour-long meeting. “The rapport was immediate and successful,” said a Labour source. “We have been out of power for a long, long time. Do you think that we would blow it now that we have the numbers?”
A Fine Gael source confirmed this: “We have not seen power since 1997. There was a time when we thought Fianna Fáil-led governments would be in power forever.”
After the Monday meeting, the negotiating teams met. “Those involved knew they would be ministers,” said a source. “They were never going to derail the talks.”
Both sides agreed that the document presented at the end of the talks would be aspirational to a degree. But everybody was certain there would be a deal.
“To some extent, it was a piece of showmanship,” said a Fine Gael source. “We talked a lot, and we put a lot of effort into the final document, but we knew that when Enda and Eamon met, a deal would be done.” The deal was done a long time ago, both sides agreed last night.
“Unless Fine Gael got an overall majority, there was always going to be an FG-Labour coalition,” said another Fine Gael source. “Enda and Eamon have known the years in the wilderness of opposition. The last time an FG-Labour government was elected was in 1982. We were all young and a little bit innocent in those times.
“For some of us, this was our last chance for office. We were not going to blow it.”
