The morning after

28 February 2011 By Neil Unmack Follow @unmack1

Irish voters have given its new government a mandate to seek cheaper European loans and burn bank bondholders. Neither move would do much to dent Ireland’s debt burden, or make its fiscal cuts less severe. Still, sharing the pain may help make austerity more palatable.

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Ireland's opposition Fine Gael party will begin talks with potential coalition partners after winning a record number of seats in Ireland national election. By the morning of Feb. 28, Fine Gael had won 70 seats in the 166seat parliament, compared to incumbent party Fianna Fail's 18, according to Irish public broadcaster RTE. The Labour party, Fine Gael's most likely coalition partner, had won 36 seats.

Fine Gael has promised to renegotiate the terms of Ireland's bailout package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund. The party's proposals include seeking a lower rate on bailout loans, and forcing losses on senior unsecured bondholders in Irish banks.

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