There were two central themes at the launch of the Labour manifesto in Dublin yesterday.

One was the need to keep the party in government to ensure progressive policies on economic and social issues; the other was the claim based on the last five years in office that the party knows how to govern.

Of all the parties contesting the election, Labour faces the most difficult challenge.

If the opinion polls for the past four years are an accurate reflection of what is going to happen on polling day, the party will be lucky to survive as a viable political force.

At the launch Tánaiste Joan Burton repeated the view she has expressed for months that people will only make their minds up about who to vote for in the last few days of the campaign.

Making the case for why people should vote for Labour, she said it was very unlikely any one party would govern alone after the election, so the more TDs her party had, the more influence it would have in shaping the next government’s policy.

Sizeable block

“If the people return a sizeable block of Labour TDs in the next Dáil, then I will guarantee that much of our manifesto will be reflected in the programme for government, but if the people do not give us the cards to play, we will not be in a position to play them.” One of the cards she wants to play is investing €3 out of every €4 available to improve public services, with reductions in tax focused on working families.

The other card is Labour’s commitment to social change. Ms Burton said Labour would insist on a referendum on the repeal of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution dealing with the abortion issue as part of any programme for government.

Referendum agreement

She expressed confidence that agreement on a referendum could be reached with

Fine Gael

after detailed discussion and consultation.

“There will be a referendum on the Eighth if Labour is in government. Equally there won’t be a referendum if we are not there,” she said.

Another theme in Ms Burton's pitch was a strong attack on Fianna Fáil for its past record.

She said that if people wanted to ensure the country never went back to the days of economic crisis, it was imperative that Fianna Fáil be kept out of government.

Focusing on Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, she criticised his record as minister for health and accused him of walking off the pitch when the going got tough.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin reinforced that theme.

Referring to Mr Martin’s role in the last government he said: “He defends that government now, he ran away from it then. Brian Lenihan’s biggest rival then, he is purporting to be his best friend now.”

Mr Howlin stoutly defended Labour’s record in Government, rejecting claims that the party had abandoned all its promises in office.

He insisted Labour had delivered on 95 per cent of its promises and demonstrated that the party knew how to govern.

Sinn Féin also came in for attack from both Ms Burton and Mr Howlin, but the main focus of criticism was on Fianna Fáil.

Ultimately Labour’s appeal to voters is that the party acted in the national interest by taking tough decisions in Government and also had a considerable influence on the progressive nature of the Coalition’s approach.