Irish PM seeks ally for 3rd term after vote count

DUBLIN, May 27 (Reuters) Opposition leaders begin weighing up today whether to support a government led by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern after final election results confirmed he was on track to secure a third successive term.

As counting drew to a close in the early hours of today, two members of Ahern's Fianna Fail party were the only remaining contenders for the last unassigned parliamentary seat.

That means he will emerge from Thursday's general election with 78 seats which is five short of a majority but one more than a potential opposition 'rainbow' alliance of Fine Gael, the left-leaning Labour Party and the Green Party.

Ahern's junior coalition partner the pro-business Progressive Democrats suffered a collapse in support, however, losing six of the eight seats they held in the last parliament.

Fine Gael leader and would-be Prime Minister Enda Kenny said he still hoped to cobble together a coalition to deprive Ahern of a third term but it looked unlikely given he would have to woo a fourth party and independents into the 'rainbow' grouping.

Kenny's opposition ally, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte, conceded defeat but also indicated that his party's membership was unlikely to switch sides in order to back Ahern.

''Mr Ahern is in the driving seat and has a number of options in terms of forming a government. In that sense, Labour will be in opposition,'' Rabbitte said.

Ahern could secure a slim majority with the remaining Progressive Democrats and a handful of independents but after a decade in power he has stressed that he wants the stability to be able to serve another full five year term.

That means the Greens are the bookmakers' favourite to enter government for the first time but party leader Trevor Sargent told Reuters he would want support for reform of the country's environmental and planning policies before entering a coalition.

''There are huge opportunities in this country but it does require an acceptance that business as usual is not an option,'' he said. ''Therein lies hopefully the makings of a good stable government with the Greens at the centre.'' Days of internal party discussions are now likely to follow before negotiations begin on shaping the next government.

''I think you can take it that (finance minister) Brian Cowen and myself by mid-week will be sitting down to work out our strategy,'' Ahern told broadcaster RTE.

REUTERS SZ PM0715