FG and the Greens are incompatible in theory but not necessarily in reality, says Enda Kenny, in an interview with Mark Hennessy
Mixing business jargon with sporting slang, Enda Kenny spoke of being "in the last straight", "heading into the final phase" and of being ready for "a high-energy campaign" over the next 12 months.
He gives the impression that his bid to become Taoiseach is about to move into a higher gear.
Although his use of language is frequently somewhat stilted, he has shown dogged determination in the Dáil - on issues such as the PPARs health service computer overspend - which has borne plentiful fruit.
Nevertheless, Fine Gael and Labour, together 30 seats short, cannot alone depose Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats, no matter how generous Santa Claus was in Mr Kenny's Castlebar home.
The need for additional support causes complications; complications Mr Kenny has done little about or, more accurately, has been unable to do anything about, over the last 12 months.
In Fine Gael's rural heartland, party supporters are inclined to bring out silver crosses and garlic at the very mention of the Greens - the third leg, if there is ever to be a Kenny-crafted stool of government.
Kenny concedes that the problem exists: "When people say to me 'you cannot touch the Greens - have nothing to do with them', and they do say that to me, my first answer is that the Greens have already decided not to have anything to do with FG, or any other party, and that is perfectly clear.
"Clearly, we have serious differences of opinion with the Greens in some areas."
However, he points to signs of co-operation: a number of combined Dáil motions, Green support for a number of FG's own proposals, and a softer edge to the Greens' attitudes to agriculture that so irked FG's farming vote.
"There is a very big difference between the Greens abroad and the Greens here. Some people would be of the view that the Greens are all hare-brained, and that many of their policies would lead to the destruction of so much that we have taken for granted in Ireland."
However, Kenny points out that international events, such as the world trade talks and global warming, could yet make friends of the Green and the farmer in a world where bio-fuels could become agriculture's next cash crop.
"We would have serious differences of opinion with the Greens in a number of areas but, for instance, in the area of alternative fuel, this is not owned by any one party, or any set of parties. This is an issue that can be dealt with.
"I think we have got to set out an agenda for farming futures and careers. It is very hard to explain the frustration of someone who has spent a fortune and a lifetime in building up an efficient, progressive family farm, and then no member of the family wants to work at it because opportunities are so prevalent in so many other areas and they don't want the hassle associated with farming, or the lack of a career and a future.
"These are issues that have to be dealt with. If we are into the business of food production and healthy living, surely there must be development in the area of healthy foods for a healthy people," he says.
In 1997, Fianna Fáil cut Fine Gael's share of the farming vote by 10 percentage points during the campaign by a ruthless focus on Democratic Left in which they turned Proinsias De Rossa into a farmers' bogeyman.
A similar strategy may be in preparation now, but FF will have to weigh the damage such a policy could do to FG against the hope held by some that the Greens could be attached to the FF orbit after the next election.
Fine Gael had no ties of substance with Democratic Left before joining with it and Labour in the rainbow coalition following the collapse of Albert Reynolds's administration in late 1995.
"Before 1994, there wasn't any contact between FG and DL. The very same arguments were put up: that if you touch those people you would destroy any chance of running the country effectively.
"Yet, De Rossa and Bruton were rock-solid in making decisions within that government. So I suppose theory is one thing and reality is another.
"Fianna Fáil always talk about an alliance between Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens. They never say what their own attitude is towards the Greens. I have never heard any of them ruling the Greens out," he said.
Faced with questions about decentralisation, Kenny waffles, although he can be partly forgiven for this since rowing back on the Government's plans would amount to political hara-kiri in some constituencies.
The programme, in his view, is a mess, has been appallingly planned and threatens chaos in the civil service, but everybody will just have to make the best of a very bad job.
Professing his belief in the properly organised transfer of State offices to the regions, Kenny said: "This has turned into a shambles - no vetting, no monitoring, and no plan to implement it."
In his home town, Department of Agriculture staff handling the last round of headage payments refused the chance to move along with their work to Portlaoise, the new HQ for the department.
"The Castlebar staff would not move, contract workers were brought into Portlaoise in rented buildings, and they brought in other livestock personnel from other regions and paid them overtime.
"In Castlebar, they have moved them down to the veterinary office, which is now overcrowded and which does not have the work for people. The thing is an utter shambles.
"Some people will be left sitting until they reach pension age, their experience and capability unused. If they continue the way that they are going they will break the long memory of the public service," he said.
In spite of all the problems, Kenny maintains that things should be got on with.
"I think you have to get on with the ones that are agreed and are going to happen. Knock will happen. There are quite a number of people from the west who want to go down to that region. They have the land acquired. Where it is very clear it can happen, we should get on with those," he adds, although he would not go so far as to say that clear non-runners should be dropped.
"It is too glib to say that. It is an indication of a scheme that was quickly announced and badly planned. I think you have got to assess what you can get out of it for the areas where that can actually happen.
"You are not going to get senior public servants to move from this city, where they have been located for most of their lives. You are going to have to face some sort of reality about that.
"There will have to be larger Cabinet offices in Dublin, I would think. We are going to have to assess this to see what is the best that can be got out of it given the way that it was announced and planned."