Irish Premier Quits Before Confidence Vote

In a dramatic move, Irish Prime Minister Albert Reynolds resigned in Dublin on Thursday after a fractious five days during which his coalition government fell apart.

Facing a no-confidence vote in Parliament, Reynolds also said he will step down as head of the leading Fianna Fail party.

Deputy Prime Minister Dick Spring had led his Labor Party out of Ireland’s governing coalition Wednesday in a dispute over a judicial appointment.

Reynolds said he would recommend to President Mary Robinson that Parliament not be dissolved, since that would mean new national elections. Ireland will be left rudderless while the major parties now explore ways to form a coalition that could win a parliamentary majority.

Reynolds’ move came just a few weeks before all-party talks were expected to begin in quest of a solution to the dispute over British rule in Northern Ireland, where a cease-fire recently ended 25 years of sectarian violence.

Gerry Adams, head of the political arm of the province’s outlawed Irish Republican Army, appeared in London on Thursday for the first time since the British government last month lifted a ban on his presence, and he complimented Reynolds for playing a leading role in the peace process. But he maintained that the move toward peace in the troubled province is “bigger than Mr. Reynolds.”

Adams added: “There is an onus on the political parties to ensure a government is reformed or reelected as quickly as possible, because any distraction from the peace process can help to defuse the momentum which has been built up.”

Appearing at a news conference in a parliamentary office, Adams was asked whether the IRA might call off the current cease-fire because of the Irish political crisis. “I don’t see the peace process being under any threat from any Republican element,” he responded, saying that he is “willing to work with whoever is in power” in Dublin.

Though praised for his work in the peace process, Reynolds had come under fire for his handling of a recent political crisis, and most observers said he was sure to lose a parliamentary confidence vote scheduled for Thursday.

Reynolds had insisted on forcing through the appointment of former Atty. Gen. Harry Whelehan as president of the High Court--the leading judicial appointment--despite the strong objections of Spring’s Labor partners.

After Spring, who is also foreign minister, and his Labor Party ministers walked out of the government, Reynolds admitted that Whelehan had misled him about his past actions as attorney general. On Thursday, Whelehan, who was criticized for his handling of a child abuse case involving a Roman Catholic priest, resigned as president of the High Court.

In his farewell remarks, Reynolds said: “I was a risk-taker in politics, I was a risk-taker in business. But I am quite happy, having taken the risks, that the successes have far outweighed the failures.”

British reaction to his resignation was muted, but privately officials stressed that the peace process will continue as normally as possible and that there will be no change in the plan to hold exploratory talks next month with Adams’ group, Sinn Fein, and representatives of British loyalist forces.

However, an Anglo-Irish meeting due to have been held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Monday was expected to be canceled.

For the moment, Reynolds offered to keep his ministers in office in a caretaker status, and he remains acting prime minister. A Fianna Fail leadership election Saturday could provide a party head able to restore the governing coalition, political sources said.

Or the second leading party, Fine Gael, might form a coalition with the Labor Party and thus garner a working majority to run the government.

Britain’s minister for Northern Ireland, Michael Ancram, said that Britain will work with the Irish government to achieve a lasting peace in the province, “whoever the government is.”