ABSTRACT
The 1997 election marked the consolidation of coalition politics in Ireland. This chapter reviews the decisions that directly constrained the parties in seeking to best position themselves heading into the 1997 election and government-formation periods. It examines the coalition question during the campaign and in particular each alliance's attempts to undermine the credibility of the other. Although election results in multiparty systems are not always decisive, they usually rule out certain proposed coalitions and certainly render some combinations more feasible than others. A distinction exists between preballot electoral coalitions designed to maximise the parliamentary bargaining power of a particular set of cooperative parties and the negotiation of formal executive coalitions. The Labour Party decided on an explicit defence of the incumbent Rainbow Coalition. Fianna Fail had to attempt to persuade voters that it could govern effectively with the Progressive Democrats while alleging that the Rainbow government was squandering the fruits of Ireland's economic boom.
