There are welcome reports in the media today on government formation talks that there is an acknowledgment that it is not possible to seriously and coherently develop multi-year policies stretching out to 2025 while grappling with #coronavirusireland (1/9)
In light of this, presumably any government that is put together to deal with #COVID19ireland will only be in place for the short-term. Logically, in the absence of any policy agreement on how to tackle longer-term issues, it is difficult to see how it could be otherwise. (2/9)
In this context,I still believe that a national government put in place for the next number of months would be best placed to deliver a unified response and take the extraordinarily difficult decisions that may be required to combat this singular common threat. (3/9)
In terms of what that national government would look like, I wouldn’t see it being comprised of every grouping in the Dail. Instead, the D’Hondt method could be used in selecting the government on a proportional basis.
(4/9)
(4/9)
By my calculation, applying D’Hondt to the current Dáil would give you a cabinet comprised of members of FF,SF,FG and Greens. This means that parties representing nearly 75% of the first preference vote in GE2020 and nearly 73% of the Dáil seats would be represented. (5/9)
When the threat has subsided, which it is projected to do in a few months, that would be the right time to look again with urgency at how to tackle the country’s longer-term structural issues and the compatibility of party policies on those points. (6/9)
A national government can work if the main political parties have the will to make it work. There are no impediments other than political preferences. (7/9)
Alignment between North and South is even more critical given the concerns at the divergences in approach being taken in Ireland and the UK. (9/9)
