Historic shift in Ireland as dominant party falls

(Reuters) - The party that has dominated Ireland since its independence 90 years ago faced political oblivion Saturday as voters inflicted a historic mauling over its role in the country's economic collapse.

Fianna Fail, whose leaders negotiated independence from Britain and peace in Northern Ireland during eight decades as Ireland's largest party, looked set to come in a humiliating third with less than two dozen seats in the 166-seat parliament.

The shift could usher in a new era in Irish politics, opening the way for younger leaders focused more on competing views of the modern state than the bitter legacy of Ireland's 1922-3 civil war.

"It would be difficult to underestimate the historic scale of this collapse," said Pat Leahy, a leading journalist and author of a history of Fianna Fail's last 14 years in power.

"They have been the most successful political party in postwar Europe. This election marks a juddering end to that."

After a decade of uninterrupted power, Fianna Fail had nowhere to hide when a vast real estate bubble burst in late 2008, pulling down the banking system and forcing the government to take a humiliating 85-billion euro ($115-billion) EU/IMF bailout.

For more on this please see:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/26/us-ireland-vote-idUSTRE71O1PP20110226?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

There seems to be a lot of old political power being ousted from the planet at the moment. Is this by design or Aquarian energies or both?

I dunno about the design, but Uranus (planet of sudden change and ruler of Aquarius - sign of social justice) is conjunct Jupiter (planet of expansion and ruler of Sagittarius - sign of the spirit of the law as opposed to the letter of it) in Aries (sign of action and conflict). This position puts both of them in square (90 degree angle) to Pluto (planet of transformation and ruler of Scorpio - sign of secrets and entrenchment, among other things) in Capricorn (sign of government). Those planets in those signs at that angle puts a lot of stress on governments in general and the old status quo in particular.

Although Jupiter will move away from the square within a matter of a few weeks, because of slow speed at which the outer planets move, the effects will be continuous and ongoing for several years at least. This is just the beginning of how the world will change.