AHERN

DUBLIN (Reuters):

Irish voters headed for the polls yesterday in an election so close that Prime Minister Bertie Ahern may have to lure a major left-leaning opponent on to his side if he is to stay in power.

Having repeatedly ruled out entering a coalition with Ahern, Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte left the door open to a deal, telling Reuters he did not look forward to the prospect but that he was keen to keep IRA political ally Sinn Fein out of power.

"I don't want to see Sinn Fein driving economic policies or other policies," Rabbitte said in an interview after casting his vote in his Dublin constituency.

Sinn Fein, which entered a ground-breaking power-sharing government in partitioned Northern Ireland this month, is set to make gains in the election in the south after Irish Republican Army (IRA) guerrillas vowed to down arms in 2005.

Ahern has ruled out governing with Sinn Fein, saying the party's left-wing economics are incompatible with his own policies, but opinion polls show voters believe he would do a deal if it was the only way to extend his 10 years in power.

Labour, Sinn Fein and the Green Party are all potential kingmakers in an election where the governing coalition of the centrist Fianna Fail and the pro-business Progres-sive Democrats will fall short of a majority.

Fine Gael, the main opposition party, is fighting to unseat Ahern on a joint platform with Labour but they too could fail to win enough seats even if they do get the backing of the so-far unaligned Green Party in a 'rainbow coalition'.

That scenario means those betting on the election now see a Fianna Fail/Labour government as the most likely option.

A poll yesterday reinforced uncertainty over who will take charge after a vote The Irish Times said was "one of the most hotly-contested and unpredictable elections of recent times".