THE FINE Gael leadership heave was a political distraction, Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said at the weekend.
“It was an internal matter for Fine Gael, but I was concerned certainly that it did distract attention from real issues,” he said.
Mr Gilmore said the most likely outcome of the next general election would be a Fine Gael-Labour government.
“The issue would be which party would lead that government, and the respective strengths of those parties,” he added.
“As I see it, we are two parties competing but compatible enough to form a new government.” Mr Gilmore said it was a matter for voters to decide which party had most seats after the election.
“We are going to take our case to the people and make the case for Labour leading the next government,” he added.
He renewed his challenge to the Government to support Labour’s moving of the writ for the Dublin South byelection in the Dáil next week. The vacancy was caused by the resignation last February of Fine Gael TD George Lee.
“We have a situation in the Dáil now where very important decisions are being taken and the people of Dublin South, as well as Waterford and Donegal South-West, where there are also vacancies, do not have their full representation in the Dáil,” he said.
“That is undemocratic. The only reason it is the case is because Fianna Fáil is afraid to face the people.” He challenged Fianna Fáil to hold the byelections and take its case to the people.
The Labour leader was speaking in Dundrum town centre, in the Dublin South constituency, where he joined byelection hopeful Senator Alex White for a walkabout. It was one of a number of Dublin constituencies he visited on Saturday.
Mr Gilmore said that next week the focus would switch back to the Government’s performance.
“I thought the most remarkable thing that happened last week was the statement by the chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank that the lion’s share of the €22 billion of taxpayers’ money given to it would never be seen again,” he said.
“And the publication of the figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that over 40 per cent of the unemployed have been out of work for over a year.”
Mr Gilmore said the concentration now had to be on getting Fianna Fáil out of government and getting people back to work.