9:07pm UK, Sunday March 06, 2011
The leaders of Ireland's two largest parties have agreed on a deal for a coalition government and have promised to demand a renegotiation of the EU/IMF bailout.
Enda Kenny (L) And Eamon Gilmore struck a deal early on Sunday morning
The centre-right Fine Gael won the General Election in February but without enough seats to gain an overall majority.
Leader Enda Kenny said on Sunday that he had struck a partnership deal with Eamon Gilmore's centre-left Labour party after six days of talks.
The leaders then put the details of the agreement to their parties at separate gatherings in Dublin and were given the green light to go ahead with the deal.
The new government will hit the ground running as it battles to pull the country back from the economic brink, Mr Kenny vowed.
"We are looking forward to the formation of the Government on Wednesday which will give stable and strong governance to Ireland and its people," he said.
Labour leader Mr Gilmore said there was no time for any honeymoon.
"There's an urgency to deal with the economic problems and we're acutely aware of that," he said.
Mr Kenny has vowed to hit the ground running
"We are not planning on taking any honeymoon. It will be straight into it."
A key pledge of the new government is to rebuild the country's reputation abroad and one of Mr Kenny's first engagements as new Taoiseach will be the extraordinary European Council meeting in Brussels on Friday.
Ministers have promised to seek better repayment terms for last December's 85bn euro EU/IMF rescue package
Brendan Howlin, Labour's chief negotiator in the coalition talks, said a renegotiation of the bailout was in everybody's interests.
"We have to repair broken bridges across our European partners, to build up an understanding of our position," he said.
"It's in everybody's interests, not only the national interest of Ireland, but in Europe's interest and in the interest of maintaining the euro, that we have a path that is sustainable out of the economic hole that we find ourselves in now."
Fine Gael's Michael Noonan, a former party leader, is widely tipped to be the new finance minister.
Appointments will be formally announced on Wednesday.
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