Looking at the independents elected in Ireland, they are now in a position to form a technical group.
As I said in a previous posting, I was delighted to see Luke Flannigan returned.
However, the group must be careful. To enter into any arrangement with a discredited politician like Michael Lowry, Tipp North, a dynastic spawn like Michael 'son of jackie' Healy Rae from Kerry or rats off a sinking ship like Mattie McGrath in Tipp South would be a major error.
These three are career political opportunist's.
As for FG and Labour, the Labour parlamentary party should listen carefully, very carefully, to their grass roots.
Yes, it is important to be in Government and affect positive change, but Labour should not help FG to sell off or privatise public services.
Ireland is not the UK, and as we saw with the Eircom debacle, privitisation in such a small country has a high rate of failure, and room for corruption.
It is quite possible to support legislation that is to the benefit of the country while in opposition, but retain the independence that the Greens and PDs lost as junior coalition partners.
But then again, the main leadership of the party is ex democratic left and workers party, having gone from perhaps 5 seats to taking over the labour party and now having 37 seats, the attraction of weilding power for people like Gilmore and Rabbite may be too much to resist.
As well as that it seems Labour are falling further into dynastic habits with Sean Sherlock and Arthur Spring being returned.
With 20 seats and little in the way of policy or moral difference, it could be quite possible for FG to do a deal with FF, a recipricol Tallaght accord if you will
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