Ireland at a Crossroads: Forming a Coalition in the Shadow of COVID-19
Ireland at a Crossroads: Forming a Coalition in the Shadow of COVID-19

Author(s): Przemysław Biskup
Subject(s): Politics, International relations/trade, Welfare systems, Health and medicine and law
Published by: PISM Polski Instytut Spraw Międzynarodowych
Keywords: Ireland; crossroads; COVID-19; pandemics; coalition; foreign policy;
Summary/Abstract: In the Republic of Ireland’s general election of 8 February, the left-wing nationalist party Sinn Fein (SF) won an unprecedented victory. However, the fragmentation of the lower house of parliament, the Dail Eireann, made it difficult to form a new government. The beginning of the pandemic, which roughly coincided with the election, temporarily extended the term of Fine Gael’s centre-right cabinet led by Taoiseach (prime minister) Leo Varadkar. The negotiations of his party with the centre-right Fianna Fail and the Greens lead to the creation of an “extended grand coalition”. Consequently, Sinn Fein would take over the role of the official opposition. The election results increase the significance of the problem of reunification of the island in Irish politics and in the EU-UK Brexit negotiations.

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