Who are the Independents supporting new FF-FG coalition and what do they want in return?
Deal or no deal? Depends who you ask, really.
The history of Independents in, or supporting, government is a long one, but there is some distance from the days when Independents would openly declare the list of their constituency swag after sealing a deal with the government of the day.
The arrangements underpinning the support of the Regional Independent Group (RIG) and the Healy-Raes for the incoming Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition government seem to be in a political grey zone of constructive ambiguity.
Government Ministers were able to tell the media this week, with straight faces, there were no constituency deals to secure the support of the Independents. Yet, if you take the Independents’ contributions in the round, it is clear they know what they want and feel they have a pathway towards getting local and regional projects done.
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