The new Irish government that is expected to be formed this Thursday will be in office but powerless from the start. Fine Gael, the biggest party, has 50 seats in the 158-seat Dáil and it will avoid decisions that would not get support of Fianna Fáil, the second biggest party with 43 votes in the chamber, plus independent TDs and Sinn Féin, the third biggest party — from the start Fianna Fáil will be biding its time to trigger the collapse of the government; Sinn Féin will not help the government to survive while winning support of independents will be like herding cats.