A realignment in Irish politics has, on and off for years, been suggested as a good thing but no sooner does the idea raise its head than it's dismissed as unrealistic. This week, things changed. A regrouping has become a serious possibility and politicians are intrigued.
Last weekend's high-level talks between leaders Ruairi Quinn of Labour and Proinsias De Rossa of Democratic Left, the positive statements from both sides about a future together and the agreement to forge ahead towards an as yet-undefined union means a new left party is likely within the year. Democratic Labour maybe? Or New Labour?
The new left, with 22 deputies and hopes of wooing a few more (not just socialist Joe Higgins but also several on the social-democratic wing of Fine Gael), aims to become the second party in the system and establish a left/right axis in Irish politics. As such a development would squeeze FG, the possibility of a merger between the two centre parties, FF and FG, has arisen again.
The idea is not new. The late John Kelly advocated such an alliance but Garret FitzGerald dismissed it, insisting that should one party have 85 per cent of the seats in the Dail, it would create potential corrupting influences and a temptation to remain in office almost indefinitely. FF's Charlie McCreevy and more recently FG's Jim Mitchell, have floated similar notions.
FG doesn't like the idea, though. An expanded left would still only have half their numbers, said one, and another debunked the idea this week, saying we had largely escaped class politics here by avoiding the left/right divide and Europe was now moving in our direction - towards the volks parties of Germany which are open to all. FF believes a merger means people joining them and that, anyway, there are greater differences than the national question.
FF and FG sprang from the Civil War split. Some argue that last weekend, the divide was buried by the all-Ireland referendum results. W. T. Cosgrave, in his last speech to the Dail in 1944, said Irish politics would reach full maturity when the Civil War politicians came together. Is now the time?