Two of its business-oriented parties, the Progressive Alliance and the Liberal Party, have merged to improve their chances.

CNN: The Shift of Power

He will probably lead a minority centre-right coalition, backed by independents, in partnership once again with the Progressive Democrats, a small liberal party that managed to lose both its leader, Michael McDowell, and three-quarters of its deputies.

ECONOMIST: Bertie Ahern wins it once more for Fianna Fail

So he simply appointed three trusted public personalities to head a far-left Progressive Unionist Party, a Socialist Labour Party and a centrist Liberal Party.

ECONOMIST: Democracy can sometimes be too tame