interparty government

interparty government (coalition), government in which two or more parties share posts and agree on a common set of policy priorities. Though not so called, the Cosgrave government formed in October 1927 was the first such example in Ireland, in that the Farmers' Party was formally brought into government and given a junior post (its leader became a parliamentary secretary).

In February 1948 a coalition of Fine Gael, Labour, National Labour, Clann na Poblachta, and Clann na Talmhan that also incorporated some independents took office as the ‘interparty government’, but broke up in early 1951. In June 1954 a ‘second interparty government’ comprising Fine Gael, Labour, and Clann na Talmhan took office, and survived until 1957.

The next three coalitions were alliances between Fine Gael and Labour: the ‘National Coalition’ led by Liam Cosgrave (Mar. 1973–July 1977) and the coalitions of 1981–2 and 1982–7 led by Garret FitzGerald. In a significant development in July 1989, Charles Haughey led Fianna Fáil into its first‐ever coalition, with the Progressive Democrats; the coalition survived the succession of Albert Reynolds to the Fianna Fáil leadership in February 1992, but deteriorating relations between the parties led to its collapse later that year. Following the election of December 1992, a Fianna Fáil‐Labour coalition was formed in January 1993, but interparty suspicions culminated in the fall of the government following a dispute regarding the extradition to Northern Ireland of a Catholic priest accused of sexual offences. It was replaced in January 1995 by a three‐party coalition of Fine Gael, Labour, and Democratic Left, headed by the Fine Gael leader John Bruton. This was a significant landmark, the first occasion on which the European model of coalition formation without a general election was followed.

John Coakley