Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore has said his party could lead the Government following the next general election.
Mr Gilmore, who was delivering the opening address to the two-day Labour parliamentary party meeting in Roscommon, said politics in Ireland was now a “three-horse race”.
“The next general election will decide the future direction of our country, probably for the next quarter century or more,” Mr Gilmore said. “And it will be the
first general election at which, Labour is, with credibility, offering to lead the next Government.”
Mr Gilmore said voters were turning away from the Government parties in their droves, angered at the effects of “buccaneer capitalism” and “how unfair our society has become”.
He accused Fianna Fáil of making a “massive mistake” over the bank guarantee and dismissed Nama as a bailout for bankers.
Mr Gilmore said his party's priority in government would be job creation. "The more people we get into work, the more people we get back to work, the more quickly our economy will be revived."
He also promised Labour would wind down Anglo Irish Bank as quickly as possible and establish a Strategic Investment Bank mandated to make €20 billion available to Irish business and productive investment.