Word: aherne
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...Before the election, Ahern said he's not interested in a partnership with Sinn Fein, but its leaders went ahead regardless and set up a negotiating committee to put forward their terms for government. If they have the seats Bertie needs, they're betting he'll be ready to make a deal...
...event, Ahern still turned out to be the greatest asset for his party, Fianna Fail. A relentless campaigner with a flair for projecting himself as an ordinary guy - the entire country seems to be on first-name terms with him - he also earned the nickname "Teflon Taoiseach" by sliding away from a web of corruption scandals without a stain. Over the past three weeks he pulled out all the all the stops and called in favors from old friends. Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair endorsed him in a campaign video and he cleverly timed plaudits...
...bookies ended up reversing their odds, and a big turnout of voters seems to have pushed Ahern ahead in the home stretch. An exit poll by the state broadcaster, RTE, predicts 41.6% of the vote for Fianna Fail, which is probably enough to enable Ahern to form a new coalition. Power is certainly convinced Ahern will pull it off. Before counting began the bookmaker announced he was paying out to gamblers who wagered on Ahern remaining Taoiseach...
...That could still be a costly mistake. Now that the horse race is done, the horse trading begins. The exit poll also predicted an improved performance for Ahern's biggest rival, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, and it may be days or weeks before the entire composition of the new government is known. Ireland's proportional representation system means transferred votes take a long time to count. It also makes it difficult to win an outright majority in the Dail, the Irish parliament, so the large parties will need to look for support among the four smaller parties to form...
...young people, urban poor, environmentalists, and anti-war campaigners. If they can become the first party to be in both of Ireland's governments, they'll be in a position to harmonize policies and blur the border between the two parts of the island. They'll also demand that Ahern deliver a policy paper on making Irish unity a practical reality...