By Padraic Halpin
DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's main political parties will meet on Monday to work out how to speed up parliamentary approval of key financial legislation, whose passage could bring forward an election to February.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is under pressure to hold a poll earlier than his chosen date of March 11 after his junior coalition partners the Green Party withdrew from government, shattering his thin majority and effectively ending his calamitous three-and-half-years in power.
Irish voters, reeling from an economic crisis that hit a fresh low when the country was forced to seek an 85 billion euro bailout from the EU and IMF late last year, are itching to boot Cowen and his unpopular Fianna Fail party from government.
Over the past week eight ministers resigned, an attempted cabinet reshuffle backfired and Cowen stepped down as leader of Fianna Fail. Despite the repeated setbacks, he has clung to his prime minister post, vowing to steer a bill linked to his government's 2011 budget through parliament.
The Greens, who are also fighting for their political lives, said they would support the legislation from the opposition benches if the election was brought forward.
The two main opposition parties and likely partners in a new coalition, the centre-right Fine Gael party and the centre-left Labour party, have issued an ultimatum to Cowen to get the finance bill passed by Friday or they will pursue motions of no-confidence in him and his government this week.
Without the support of the Greens, Cowen risks losing any confidence vote and being forced to call an immediate election, shelving the bill but not damaging Ireland's fiscal goals given that tax measures in the 2011 budget have already taken effect.
The premier, who was attending a Gaelic football match in the central Irish town of Portlaois while his government was imploding in Dublin on Sunday, has said getting the bill through parliament by Friday is too tight a timetable.
Opposition parties have pointed out that a sweeping banking bill was passed after just four hours of parliamentary debate in December and they are unlikely to stand for any attempts by Cowen to delay the bill.
Cowen's teetering government will meet with Fine Gael, Labour and the Greens on Monday to discuss the matter. It now appears likely the finance bill will pass by next week at the latest, paving the way for an election near the end of February.
(Editing by Carmel Crimmins and Noah Barkin)
