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Fine Gael has deliberately let Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein “batter each other” before making its move tomorrow.

A party strategist revealed the tactic – as Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald once again took a swipe at “arrogant” rivals at a meeting in Belfast yesterday.

The Fine Gael insider compared it to being on a night out and sitting back with your chips to watch people fight outside a takeaway.

It is only tomorrow the decimated gang of 35 Fine Gael TDs – 15 shy of the last election tally – formally meets for its postmortem.

The party that still holds the reins of power as a caretaker government has been sitting back and saying nothing for a whole week since last week’s vote.

It has left the field clear for other parties, Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein in particular, to do the early running.

(Image: Collins Photo Agency)

But the Irish Sunday Mirror has learned from a senior Fine Gael source this has been part of their plan all along.

He told how he has enjoyed the sparring between the other main parties.

He admitted: “It’s been good craic this week alright, with Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein battering each other.

“Let me put it this way, you know when you’ve been out on a night out, you’ve had your few pints and you head to the chipper.

“Well, when you see two groups of lads who you don’t really like fighting, sure you just sit back and enjoy them beating each other up while you finish your chips.”

The colourful scene he carefully painted to the Irish Mirror has in fact played out in the political sphere.

Fine Gael’s posturing comes as a “grand coalition” of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens is now looking increasingly like the only choice to avoid returning to the polls in the coming weeks.

Sinn Fein was first out of the traps last week when it announced a government formation negotiations team led by Pearse Doherty on Tuesday afternoon.

(Image: Collins Photo Agency)

After a series of meetings and phone calls with smaller parties of the left, the party resigned itself on Friday to the fact the numbers weren’t there for a coalition.

Fianna Fail joined the fray on Thursday when its parliamentary party of MEPs, senators and 38 TDs met in Dublin.

The upshot of that meeting was a unanimous rejection of a straightforward coalition with Sinn Fein.

There had been talk of it earlier in the week after Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, appeared to leave the door open while the votes were still being counted on Sunday night.

After Mr Martin’s rejection of Ms McDonald’s overtures on Thursday, the Sinn Fein leader has been on the offensive.

She lashed out at what she called the “old boys club” of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael on Friday.

Speaking at a party meeting yesterday she blasted both parties for denying hers a place in the next government.

(Image: Virgin Media News Twitter)

Ms McDonald said: “The political establishment of Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are circling the wagons in defence of a status quo that will not deliver the change citizens voted for last weekend.

“The old guard can have yesterday... now is the moment for change.”

She said it seemed Mr Martin’s plan is to deny the people what they voted for “because they don’t want change”, adding: “That is why they said they wouldn’t talk to us. And it now seems Micheal Martin’s plan is to deny the people what they voted for.

“That is an arrogant and untenable position, given the strength of Sinn Fein’s mandate.”

Roisin Shortall appeared to echo Ms McDonald’s sentiment when her own party met yesterday.

The co-leader of the Social Democrats said a Fianna Fail/Fine Gael coalition government does not sound like change.

She added each party was an independent one and the Social Democrats would do what was best for the country.

The smaller parties and independents have been playing their hands in different ways.

The Greens are in its strongest ever position in Irish political history with a haul of 12 Dail seats reflecting its new-found popularity as the party of real climate action.

They are twice as strong as the next biggest group in the Dail willing to do business, the Social Democrats, with six seats.

Labour also won six seats but the party is at a low ebb after scoring its worst first preference vote of just 4% and losing a seat from its previous holding of seven seats.

But it is Eamon Ryan’s Greens that are most likely to be kingmakers with their 12 seats.