Ireland's Taoiseach Enda Kenny talks to members of the press outside Number 10 Downing Street | Ben Pruchnie/Getty Ireland’s big two parties fear rise of Sinn Féin As an uncertain election approaches, political parties are circling each other warily.

Ireland's two largest parties will not form a coalition after the coming general election for fear of allowing the former political wing of the IRA to become the official opposition.

Although Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has yet to announce the election date, campaigning is in full swing. Polls show that no party will win a clear parliamentary majority, putting the focus on possible coalitions.

On Tuesday, Fianna Fáil, the largest opposition party, ruled out forming a coalition with Kenny's governing Fine Gael because of concerns about the rise of Sinn Féin.

Rumors of a Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil coalition have persisted for months because the two parties would likely have a solid parliamentary majority. However, such a pact could strengthen Sinn Féin, which may well form the official opposition.

“We will not enter coalition with Fine Gael, because it would leave the door open for Sinn Féin [to increase in popularity],” senior Fianna Fáil politician Willie O’Dea told the Irish Times Tuesday.

“We will not enter coalition with Sinn Féin, because Sinn Féin is run by the [IRA] Army Council and we will not put the Army Council into government,” O'Dea said.

In October 2015, the British government published a report stating that the Army Council — the Irish Republican Army's decision making body — still exercises influence over Sinn Féin’s political strategy.

Sinn Féin insists that the IRA no longer exists.

The report was commissioned following the killing of former IRA gunman Kevin McGuigan in August 2015. In October, Bobby Storey, Sinn Féin's chairman in Northern Ireland and a former IRA fighter, was arrested for the murder, triggering a political crisis in Northern Ireland and raising questions about Sinn Féin’s independence south of the border. Storey was later released without charge.

Sinn Féin’s popularity rocketed after the eurozone crisis because of its anti-austerity stance. It is currently the fourth largest party but is predicted to overtake the Labour party this time. However, Sinn Féin has increasingly had to battle accusations that it maintains deep ties to the IRA, which for years waged a bloody campaign aimed at ending British rule in Northern Ireland.

Sinn Féin ruled out joining a coalition with Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil. The party's vice president, Mary Lou McDonald, said in December she was “blue in the face” from explaining that the party would not “prop up a Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael government.”

The latest polls show support for Fine Gael is waning and no party is likely to win an outright majority. Fine Gael minister Paudie Coffey on January 9 ruled out Fianna Fáil or Sinn Féin as coalition partners.

Reports in the Irish press suggest any future government will need to court the Labour party, the junior partner in the current governing coalition, as well as several independent politicians or marginal parties.

The election comes as Ireland recovers from the eurozone crisis. The European Commission estimated it will stay the fastest growing eurozone economy this year.