Irish cliffhanger expected

Press, 19 February 1987, Page 8

Irish cliffhanger expected

NZPA-Reuter Dublin Ireland prepared for a cliffhanger count last evening in the battle between the Opposition Leader, Charles Haughey, and the Prime Minister, Garret Fitz Gerald, after a heavy turn-out in yesterday’s General Election.

The turn-out In cold but sunny weather, topped 75 per cent, about 2 per cent higher than the figure for the last three Irish elections.

Mr Haughey’s Fianna Fail party, hot favourite to regain power, argued that the high turn-out favoured their bid for an over-all majority.

But Mr Fitz Gerald’s Fine Gael party and the newly formed breakaway Progressive Democrats, set up by a Fianna Fail dissident, Desmond O’Malley, claimed that the election race would be much closer.

Counting, which started last evening, is a long and

laborious process under Ireland’s complex proportional representation system. The high turn-out gave a boost to the chief protagonists after a lacklustre four-week campaign. Dr Fitz Gerald, seeking at the last moment to forge a political alliance

with the Progressive Democrats, preached a blunt message: Debt-rid-den Ireland was living beyond its means and more belt-tightening was needed. The controversial and colourful Mr Haughey, hoping to be Prime Minister for the third time, was

■ - • -' • vqgue about apeciflc measures but promised to get out of the debt trap with an economic growth rate of 2.5 per cent a year. But what made the election intriguing was the emergence of the fledgling Progressive Democrats, who are liberal on social issues but favour cuts in public spending and taxes.

Opinion polls pointed to a gradual erosion in support for Mr Haughey, while Dr Fitz Gerald’s popularity rose after a television debate with his arch rival.

Support for the Progressive Democrats, dubbed Ireland’s “Yuppie” party for its middle-class support, stayed steady at about 15 per cent

Election officials said the turn-out in Dublin was up to 4 per cent higher than in previous elections. It is in the capital that the crucial seats could be won or lost