Editing Albert Reynolds (section)

== Coalition (1989–1992) ==
{{further|21st government of Ireland}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2025}}
The [[1989 Irish general election|1989 general election]] resulted in Fianna Fáil taking the unprecedented move of entering into a coalition with the four-year-old free-market-centric [[Progressive Democrats]] (PD).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/107881/1/The_Consolidation_of_Coalition_Politics_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland_Paul_Mitchell_October_2020.pdf |title=The Consolidation of Coalition Politics in the Republic of Ireland |author=Paul Mitchell |date=October 2020 |publisher=London School of Economics and Political Science |accessdate=2025-01-27}}</ref> Reynolds headed the Fianna Fáil negotiation team with another minister, [[Bertie Ahern]]. A programme for government was finally agreed upon almost a month after the general election, and Reynolds returned as Minister for Finance in a coalition government that he described as a "temporary little arrangement".{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

The failure of Fianna Fáil candidate [[Brian Lenihan Snr|Brian Lenihan]] to be elected as [[President of Ireland]] added to the pressure on Haughey's leadership. In a speech in [[County Cork]], Reynolds announced that if a vacancy arose in the leadership, he would contest it—a clear and open revolt against Haughey's leadership. {{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Several TDs and senators, including some cabinet members, also began to grow disillusioned with Haughey, and they began to look for a successor. Reynolds was the most popular: his profile was enhanced by the so-called "Country & Western" group of TDs (named so because they came from mostly rural counties, as well as Reynolds's earlier fortune in the dance hall business) who began to agitate within the party on his behalf. {{citation needed|date=May 2025}} In November 1991, a relatively unknown rural TD, [[Seán Power]], put down a [[motion of no confidence]] in Haughey. Reynolds and a staunch supporter, [[Pádraig Flynn]], announced their support for the motion, and Haughey promptly had them sacked from the cabinet. When the vote was taken, the party reaffirmed its support for Haughey by 55 votes to 22. It looked as though Reynolds's political career was finished.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

Haughey's victory was short-lived, as a series of political errors would lead to his demise as Taoiseach. Controversy erupted over the attempted appointment of [[Jim McDaid]] as [[Minister for Defence (Ireland)|Minister for Defence]], and McDaid resigned from the post before he was appointed.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Seán Doherty, the man who as [[Minister for Justice (Ireland)|Minister for Justice]] had taken the blame for the [[Irish phone tapping scandal|phone tapping scandal]] of the early 1980s, went on television on [[RTÉ Television|RTÉ]] to reveal that Haughey had known about and authorised the phone tapping.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Haughey denied all charges, but the PD government members stated that they could no longer continue in government with him as Taoiseach.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Haughey told [[Desmond O'Malley]], the PD leader, that he intended to resign shortly but wanted to choose his own time of departure. O'Malley agreed to this, and the government continued.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}