Word: fianna
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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When Ireland's parliamentary election campaign opened a month ago, Prime Minister Charles Haughey and his Fianna Fáil (Band of Destiny) party seemed invincible. The polls showed them comfortably ahead of their opponents; Haughey, 55, had sprinted into the lead like an Irish steeplechaser in a field of Clydesdales. But then the jumps got higher. Undercut by the tensions in Northern Ireland and voter discontent over inflation (21%) and unemployment (11%), Haughey saw his lead evaporate. A strong finish by the opposition Fine Gael (Family of the Irish) party, headed by former Foreign Minister Garret Fitzgerald...
After last week's opening round of bargaining to piece together a coalition, Fitzgerald seemed to have a slight edge. Haughey and Fianna Fáil had won 78 of the 166 seats in the new Dáil (parliament), compared with Fine Gael's 65. The balance of power lay with the small Labor Party (15 seats), whose new leader, Michael O'Leary, showed a marked distaste for the outgoing Haughey government. It would be "very remarkable indeed," O'Leary said, if his party linked up with Fianna Fáil. On the other hand...