Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I remember distinctly my first day in the Dáil in 2011 and the Taoiseach made the point that we had seen a democratic revolution and he would keep his ear close to the ground. We did not have a democratic revolution. What we had was five years of severe austerity that has impacted so much on people's lives in how they live, how they work or do not work, how they raise their families, how they access services and how they get about their daily lives in a way that they are proud they have the ability to do it and that they have a future and hope. That was taken away from them in the past five years, with the help and support of the Labour Party.

After today, many people will wonder how come a party like Fine Gael - the dominant party in what was an extremely unpopular Government which sought re-election on the basis of its record and was decisively rejected by the people in a popular vote - is now the dominant party in a new Government. The people are just asking how the hell that happened. They are also asking how come Deputy Enda Kenny, whom a clear majority do not want as Taoiseach, has been re-elected as Taoiseach. They are wondering how the losers became the winners, which is what has happened today in the Dáil. The answer to this question of course is the role played by Fianna Fáil. In everything but name this is a Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition. No, they could not-----

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