Electoral strategy: Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats' only chance of being returned to Government again was if they were faced with a divided Opposition, the Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte told the debate on electoral strategy.
He said he had "no illusions" that Fine Gael was anything other than a conservative party. But being a "mudguard" for Fine Gael was "marginally better than being a mudguard for Fianna Fáil because there is more mud to guard".
A coalition deal with Fine Gael would not be done at all costs, and Labour would present voters with "a strong, coherent, radical manifesto", said Mr Rabbitte.
He said he believed in the words of the late, former Labour leader Frank Cluskey who told Fine Gael during coalition negotiations: "'You can join us on agreed terms in Government, or you can join us in opposition"".
Frank Barry of the Amicus trade union said said there was no point in deciding on a pact when "we don't know what the election result will give us . . . Should we go into the election with one hand tied behind our backs, or both for that matter?"
He said Labour should not "limit the number of options" it was giving the electorate by entering a voting pact.
Cllr Seán Ó Hargáin from Kilkenny said that the pact was "a decision about the here and now" in terms of how to get the current "ruthless and right-wing" Government out of office. "I know we want to see the back of Bertie . . . the question here is how," he said.
Cllr Declan Bree from Sligo said that if Labour agreed to enter coalition with Fine Gael, it would "be giving the kiss of life to a party that has nothing in common with the Labour party". Labour would be "second fiddle in a Fine Gael-led coalition", according to Cllr Bree, who claimed, amid boos from the audience, that some members favoured a merger with Fine Gael.
John Bolger of the ATGWU said the union had put forward an alternative strategy to make Labour the main opposition to Fianna Fáil, which meant that the party should form no alliances with any party.
He said that the debate on the pact comprised of "old arguments over strategies that have failed in the past".
Dublin North East TD Tommy Broughan said the party had always performed well electorally "when we stood alone". The pact was "dangerous and reckless" because it could see Labour squeezed between Sinn Féin on the one side and Fine Gael on the other. He said Labour had the chance to make or break Fine Gael, and that it should break the party which he described as "an incubus on the back of Labour".
Cllr John McManus from Bray, said it was the job of the Labour party to put a "radical but sustainable" programme of policies to the electorate to give them an option to vote for an alternative Government.
He said implementing Labour policies could only be done in a Government "which does not contain parties which have squandered the advantages they were given in 1997".
Delegate Frank Butler from Cabra said that when Labour fought as an independent party in elections, it had performed better. He said Fine Gael's strategy in 1997 was to "get seats back off the Labour party" and that would be its strategy at the next general election.
A power-sharing pact on local authorities in Westmeath had worked extremely well, Cllr Mick Dollard from Mullingar, told the conference, and showed that there could be "a real and credible" alternative to the current Government, and he believed there was a desire among the electorate for a coherent alternative.
Cllr Danny O'Brien from Trim said he was against a pact as his primary concern was that Labour should get into power in order to implement its policies. "It doesn't matter who we are in Government with," he said.
The ongoing debate had "all the hallmarks of a fight with your girlfriend," Dublin South East delegate Nap Keeling told the conference. "It's not what the fight is about at all." He also accused some who were against the pact of mounting "a collateral attack on the leadership of the party".
Rebecca Moynihan from Inchicore said the debate was not an ideological, but a tactical one. She said that smaller parties were traditionally "squeezed" in pacts, with the exception of the Progressive Democrats "with their right-wing economics and the bigot from Ranelagh".
Senator Derek McDowell said there had been a major increase in the numbers voting for non Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael from 15 per cent 20 years ago to 40 per cent today. "There's a far larger pool in which we can fish," he said.
Fine Gael was in a weak position electorally, and with the proposed pact, Labour was "in effect being invited to come to their rescue . . . There's a lot, a lot in a pre-election pact for Fine Gael, but precious little in it for the Labour party."
Wexford TD Brendan Howlin said that after 20 years of debate within the party, there was "no wholly right or wholly wrong answer" in relation to pre-election pacts. He said there was a danger that the pact would see Labour lose its "critical relevance" during the election campaign, and the party members could find themselves "as cheerleaders for Enda [ Kenny]" in the run-up to an election.
If Labour "fudged" on a pact, it would be certain to spend a further five years in opposition, said John Mulvihill from Cork East. He said he had described Fianna Fáil as "tricky people" in 1994. "I tell you. they're trickier now."
Labour National Executive Council member David Leach said that he was not only opposed to coalition with Fianna Fáil, but with coalition with Fine Gael. He had "no intention propping up" the Fine Gael Barry and Coveny political dynasties in Cork because of a pre-election pact. A pact would also be "a gilt-edged invitation to the media to take us for granted".
Meath by-election candidate Cllr Dominic Halligan said that the experience of the recent election showed that the pact did work, and that tallies showed Fine Gael voters transferring in significant numbers to Labour.
Labour vice-chairman Henry Haughton said his opposition was not based on opposition to the leadership, and that he would be working hard for the party, regardless of the outcome of the debate. "I'm no dissident, I'm an activist, I had my view and I'm entitled to express it."
By keeping coalition options open, Labour would be "leaving the door open for Fianna Fáil" Dublin North West TD Róisín Shortall told delegates.
She said the electorate had punished Labour when it last entered coalition with Fianna Fáil and some voters had yet to forgive the party for that.
Labour student activist Dermot Looney from UCD said the pact "puts Fine Gael first" and it did not offer the "categorical shift in politics that this society needs".
Dún Laoghaire TD Eamon Gilmore said the party could not go and ask the electorate to make a change in Government "and not offer an alternative".
Delegates should vote for the pact because it showed Labour was serious about Government, and that the party would "not play second fiddle to anybody".
Waterford TD Brian O'Shea said the debate was about "differences of judgment, not principle", and that the best strategy to increase seats was to stand as an independent party with the possibility of having either a Labour Taoiseach or Tánaiste. In a direct response to ATGWU leader Mick O'Reilly, one of the staunchest critics of the pre-election pact, TD Emmet Stagg accused him of undermining the party. "If you really want to promote the cause of Labour, you might find a target other than you Labour party colleagues."
Cork TD Kathleen Lynch said her opposition to the pact was based on the fact that she and other colleagues lost seats in 1997 because of a pre-election pact.
Jack O'Connor of Siptu said the union was supporting a pre-election pact, but it would not support the ratification of a coalition deal following the election if was not centre-left coalition. "We will oppose it and actively campaign against it," he said.
Labour activist and former Attorney General John Rogers said the pact would be "a major tactical error". He said: "It's an absolutely clear thing to me, you should not vote for something if you don't know what it's going to lead to."
Joe Kemmy from Limerick told delegates that members who voted for Pat Rabbitte, like himself "knew what we were buying into".