Irish General Election, 2011 - Analysis

Analysis

The election result was read as harsh on the euro which Bloomberg read as its intention was to "provide economic harmony... ensure political stability." Of which it said neither has happened. It also suggested that:

What happens in Ireland doesn't matter much to anyone but the Irish...But the Irish results are a sneak preview of greater turmoil ahead. Chancellor Angela Merkel's approval ratings are at risk as her party strikes electoral trouble in Germany. President Nicolas Sarkozy's re-election in France is surely in doubt. And Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi seems finished as a force in Italian politics, not just because of his interest in young women.

The Irish Times columnist Diarmaid Ferriter likened Fianna Fáil's electoral meltdown to the 1918 election, which saw the Irish Parliamentary Party nearly wiped off the map by Sinn Féin. According to Ferriter, in both cases the electorate saw "a tired old movement, arrogant from long-time electoral dominance." He even suggested Fianna Fáil might have been swept out of the chamber entirely in a first-past-the-post system, and that the party now faces a battle to stay relevant on the Irish political scene.

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