All the evidence from the weekend election counts points to one inescapable conclusion: The Irish electorate no longer treats Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as two separate political parties, but as one single political entity with two wings.
On paper, of course, they remain separate parties. In practice, at the ballot box, voters tended to treat their candidates as being representative of the same political entity. Transfers from FG to FF candidates and vice versa were running in the range of 30-40%, which are the kind of numbers you would usually get from FF to FF or FG to FG. In Dublin Bay South, for example, Jim O’Callaghan of Fianna Fáil was elected on surplus votes from James Geoghegan that had originated with his Fine Gael running mate Emma Blain. Those voters had all voted FG 1, FG 2, and FF 3. This was one of the key factors that secured two Government seats.
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