IRELAND: Government Topples, Putting Peace Process in Doubt

DUBLIN, Nov 17 (IPS) - After a week of teetering on the brink, the Irish Government finally fell on Thursday morning -- threatening severe consequences for the Northern Ireland peace process that it did so much to bring to life.

Irish prime minister Albert Reynolds, who played a key role in bringing about a ceasefire in Europe's longest running civil conflict, joined his ministers in announcing his and their collective resignation to the Irish parliament (Dail).

Talks now begin on a new coalition to replace the old Reynolds- led alliance between his party, Fianna Fail, and the Labour Party. Reynolds' position as leader of Fianna Fail is also now in doubt.

By resigning, Reynolds avoided losing a vote of confidence in the Dail where his former Labour Party colleagues in government would have voted for a no confidence motion proposed by John Bruton, leader of Fine Gael, the largest single opposition party.

Bruton is the man most likely to be the next prime minister if a new Government is formed which excludes Fianna Fail.

But various options are still open to Labour including a new Labour-Fianna Fail coalition under a new leader or a Labour party coalition with other, smaller parties in the Dail.

But there will be no general election yet. Reynolds chose not to ask Irish president Mary Robinson to dissolve the Dail. Both parties have slumped in the polls; one MP said that the two voting for an election would be like "turkeys voting for Christmas".

"We will continue to carry on our duties while a new administration is formed," Reynolds said. "I take this decision for the good of the country, in the interests of stability and in particular to ensure the continuation of the peace process."

But the chief concern of most observers was the likely effect on the peace process in the north.

Six counties in the north of the country stayed under British rule when the rest of Ireland won independence from Britain in the 1920s. 'Republican' members of the Catholic Christian pro-Irish community in the north seek to reunite these six counties with the rest of Ireland, but are bitterly opposed by majority Protestant Christian pro-British 'Loyalists' who want to maintain the link with the United Kingdom. The dispute spilled into violence in 1968, halted only by a ceasefire this summer.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service