Green Party:The Green Party has said that a comment by one of its TDs that a coalition deal with Fianna Fáil would be "a deal with the devil" was made in a personal capacity.
The comment was one of a number of highly critical remarks about Fianna Fáil and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern made by Dún Laoghaire TD Ciarán Cuffe on his website, Cuffe Street.
In his blog, posted in the early hours of Sunday morning, Mr Cuffe wrote: "Let's be clear. A deal with Fianna Fáil would be a deal with the devil. We would be spat out after five years, and decimated as a party.
"But . . . would it be worth it? Power is a many-faceted thing." He said Fianna Fáil and Mr Ahern would have to move on from the "benchmark" of success being cranes in the sky.
He added that he worried about Mr Ahern's "moral compass" in relation to his vote management in Dublin Central.
"How can you lead Mary Fitzpatrick down the garden path by running her on the ticket and then apparently leaflet every house in the constituency ('in this area', mar dhea), saying vote Ahern 1, Brady 2 and Fitzpatrick 3?"
Of his post-election plans, Mr Cuffe said he wouldn't "be rushing into things.
"Maybe I'll even take some time off to see how the Mahon tribunal unfolds."
Mr Cuffe did not respond to telephone calls yesterday.
The blog entry was posted before a meeting of Green Party TDs on Sunday where the party decided not to comment publicly on potential coalition options and to take soundings from the party membership. A spokesman for the Greens said Mr Cuffe's comments were made in a "personal capacity". His blog "should not be read as party policy".