Ireland's Fine Gael (United Ireland Party) and Labour parties, who between them control 113 of the 166 seats in the Dail Eireann, lower house of parliament, have reached an agreement on forming a coalition government, leaders of the two parties said early Sunday.
When leaving talks at the Government Buildings in the early hours of Sunday morning, Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny told reporters that he was happy they had concluded an agreement.
Kenny said some final details are being worked out for presentation to both parties later Sunday.
Meanwhile, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said he and Kenny had reached agreement on the necessary issues, and he intended to recommend the package to a 1,000-strong Labour Party special delegate conference Sunday afternoon.
Since the evening of Feb. 28, Fine Gael and Labour started talks on the formation of a coalition government. The talks were complex, with the parties at odds over the length of time it will take to turn around the budget deficit, tax, public sector cuts, water charges and how to tackle bondholder responsibility for banking debts.
Ireland held an early general election on Feb. 25, the country's first national poll since its financial bailout in late November. Final counting results show that the Fine Gael has won the crucial poll, taking 76 seats of the 166-seat Dail Eireann, but without an overall majority. The Labour Party won 37 seats, the incumbent Fianna Fail (Republican Party) won 20 seats, the Sinn Fein (We Ourselves) took 14 seats, others took 19 seats.