Irish PM's party says Green coalition in reach

DUBLIN, June 6 (Reuters) A coalition deal between Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's centrist Fianna Fail and the Green Party is ''very, very possible'', a minister in Ahern's outgoing government said today.

Support for Fianna Fail held steady in a May 24 general election meaning Ahern is almost certain to clinch a third successive term but backing for his pro-business junior coalition partner, the Progressive Democrats (PDs), collapsed.

That has left Ahern searching for new allies in order to secure a parliamentary majority.

Fianna Fail has 78 seats out of 166 in the Dail (lower chamber). The Greens have 6 seats, while the PDs have shrunk to 2 from 8.

Keeping on the PDs and winning over a few independents would give him a wafer-thin majority but Ahern has said his priority is to form a stable government that can serve a full 5 year term and he has kept his options open.

Talks between Fianna Fail and the Greens, who have never been in government in Ireland, began on Sunday.

''I think the Green party have come into these talks with a view to making their impact on government,'' Noel Dempsey, a member of Fianna Fail's negotiating team, told RTE Radio today. ''I think that a deal is very, very possible.'' ''The people made a very clear decision (in the election): they wanted a Fianna Fail-led government,'' he added.

Dempsey, who is communications, marine and natural resources minister, said he understood Ahern had also been in contact with other party leaders but did not give any details.

Ireland's parliament, the Dail, is due to meet on June 14 to vote on who will be the next prime minister.

The Green party, which has been in opposition since winning its first parliamentary seat in 1989, campaigned for a ban on corporate donations to political parties and an end to the use of Irish airports by US military forces involved in Iraq.

It also wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 3 per cent a year and subsidise renewable energy given Ireland's heavy dependence on imported gas and oil to power its economy.

Those involved in the talks have remained tight-lipped over whether those core issues could be deal breakers.

Such manoeuvring is common in a country where no one party has had an outright majority for 30 years.

A third option would be a deal with the bigger, left-leaning Labour Party but that is seen as less likely given a determined campaign to oust Ahern during the election. Labour would also expect more policy concessions and senior ministerial posts than other parties given its greater number of parliamentary seats.

A poll published by Ireland's Sunday Independent showed 39 per cent of those canvassed backed a coalition between Fianna Fail, the PDs and independent lawmakers. Twenty-five percent said they favoured a Fianna Fail and Green Party government.

REUTERS AM RK2300