After 10 years in power, Ahern reelected as Ireland's leader

DUBLIN -- Bertie Ahern won re election yesterday as prime minister of Ireland, extending his 10 years in power and clearing the way for a broadly based coalition government.

Fianna Fail lawmakers cheered and patted their party leader on the back after he received 89 votes in the 166-member Dail Eireann parliament, easily defeating his challenger, Enda Kenny of the major opposition, the Fine Gael party.

Ahern, 55, received support from all his Fianna Fail colleagues and also lawmakers from his new three-party government -- the right-wing Progressive Democrats, or PDs, who have been Ahern's partners since 1997, and the left-wing Greens, longtime opponents of the outgoing Fianna Fail-PD coalition.

"We live in an Ireland of unprecedented peace and prosperity. This has not happened by chance," Ahern said, referring to his roles guiding the Republic of Ireland's "Celtic Tiger" economy and the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Later, Ahern unveiled his 15-member Cabinet. He promoted Finance Minister Brian Cowen, his heir apparent as Fianna Fail leader, to deputy prime minister. He kept Mary Harney, the leader of the Progressive Democrats, as health minister despite strong Green opposition to her efforts to build hospitals using private finance.

The Greens got two Cabinet posts in areas that most concern them. Party chairman John Gormley became minister for the environment, heritage, and local government. His colleague, Eamon Ryan, became minister for communications, energy, and natural resources.

Ahern's success in forging a government that includes the Greens and Progressive Democrats -- at opposite ends of the political spectrum in Irish politics -- stunned the experts and bore testament to his skills as a negotiator.

Ahern, a plainspoken Dubliner who has won praise in Northern Ireland and the European Union for his ability to bridge differences, also brokered multimillion-dollar deals to win the loyalty of three independent lawmakers.

Such dealings have created a 90-strong bloc of support for Ahern, a solid majority that means no one faction can harm his government by walking out.

Ahern is only the second prime minister in Irish history to win three consecutive terms, following Fianna Fail founder Eamon de Valera, who won seven elections from 1932 to 1957.

Since Ireland's independence from Britain in 1922, only a five-party government -- formed in 1948 in unified opposition to Fianna Fail -- had more factions than the new one.

But most analysts say they expect Ahern's latest administration to survive its full five-year term, just like the previous two.

"In 20 years' time, they will look back on Bertie as a political genius," said Ivan Yates, a top Irish bookmaker and former government minister from the No. 2 party, Fine Gael. "He uniquely constructs a consensus with him at the center. He's remarkably good at this."

Since 1997, Ahern has driven a center-right government that promoted tax breaks for big business, the biggest roads-building program in Ireland's history, and Europe's most sustained property boom.

Economic growth has produced soaring employment, and rising living standards and immigration -- but also grueling commutes, overloaded schools and hospitals, and a poorer quality of life for many.

The joint Fianna Fail-Green platform commits the government to promote wind, solar, and tidal energy; boost spending on public transportation and schools; and introduce a carbon tax on polluters, all Green goals.

"The Green agenda is a very important part of the next five years," said Fianna Fail lawmaker Seamus Brennan. "The challenge is to continue to grow the country strongly economically but to learn to do so in a way that's environmentally sustainable."

But the pact also required the Greens to stomach policies they oppose. These included a highway project past an arch eological treasure, the Hill of Tara, or Hill of Kings in County Meath, and access for Iraq-bound US troops to use Ireland -- an officially neutral nation -- as a refueling point.