Bruton deposed as Ahern takes reins of power

Ireland's centre left Government last night conceded defeat to Bertie Ahern's Fianna Fail party and its Progressive Democrat allies, who will depend for a slender Dail majority on a handful of Independents.

The two-day counting of results left Mr Ahern with sufficient support to be elected Taoiseach when the Dail resumes on 26 June. He now faces two weeks of hard bargaining with Independents to guarantee their votes.

Last night, Fianna Fail (FF) had 76 seats, Fine Gael 53, Labour 17, Progressive Democrats 4, Democratic Left 4, Greens 2, Sinn Fein 1, and Independents 7. The final seat, in Limerick West, was expected to be won by Fine Gael.

Mr Ahern avoided the worst-case scenario of having to rely for support on Caoimhghin O'Caolain, elected as Sinn Fein's first Dail TD (MP) since IRA hunger strikers won in 1981 and before that four abstentionist candidates in 1957.

Such a reliance would have poisoned his government's dealings with Unionists. It would also have been difficult for Mr Ahern's new-right partners, the Progressive Democrats, to tolerate. After dropping their Dail abstentionist policy in 1986, Sinn Fein's new TD for Cavan-Monaghan will take up his seat, unlike Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness at Westminster.

Mr Ahern, 45, a former hospital accountant and union organiser, has led Fianna Fail since Albert Reynolds resigned in 1994. He said he may make contact this week with Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams to press for an early end to IRA violence. But he reiterated his position that once in power he would not meet Sinn Fein until a ceasefire was in place.

The Fianna Fail leader said prospects for progress in Northern Ireland were "tremendous", adding "but when you go round the mulberry bush you come back to the position that it's very hard to get anywhere as long as there is violence".

"They [Sinn Fein] have stated in [recent] elections that their's is a peace strategy. I think they have to prove that now." If republicans "proved their part" he said he would do "everything I humanly can" to move the process forward.

Outgoing ministers predicted a short life for the new coalition. Dependent in Dail votes on Independents in Donegal and Kerry South with strong republican views, this could create internal strains over Northern Ireland.

Labour leader Dick Spring, who said he would remain at the helm unless his party said otherwise, warned: "It seems hard to see a stable government emerging. There is going to be difficulty." He predicted Dail turbulence over abortion legislation, Northern Ireland, the payments to politicians inquiry and media ownership.

Ingenious vote control, exploiting the proportional representation system to the full, enabled Fianna Fail to win many more seats than in 1992 on just 39 per cent of first-preference votes, in what was still its second- worst overall vote since 1932.

Though losing power, Mr Bruton emerged with enhanced stature after articulating a more visionary message in the campaign. Yesterday, he claimed there had been a "mind yourself" vote for the FF-PD coalition. Urging social cohesion, he warned that urban decay would not be remedied by tax-cutting "short-termism" under Fianna Fail and the PDs. "Irish people are not basically interested in divisive 'grab-all' politics."

Attacked widely for their allegedly Thatcherite views, the Progressive Democrats fared badly, losing more than half their TDs. Some observers believe Mr Ahern might have won a majority but for his pact with the PDs.