Labour is “not ruling anything in or out” on the possibility of entering Government with Sinn Féin after the next election.
The remarks from Alan Kelly come ahead of his first national conference as party leader where delegates will debate housing and Northern Ireland on Friday evening.
Mr Kelly was asked about the prospect of his party entering Government with Sinn Féin at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
He said: “We’re not in a position as a party to say we will or will not go into a coalition after the next government.”
Mr Kelly said Labour is “not afraid to go into government like some of the left”.
He said his priority is to maximise Labour’s electoral strength, his ambition is to “bring our party back”, and “then make a decision after that”.
He added: “We’re not ruling anything in or out.
“But I will say this, there are some people who maybe think it’s a fait acompli that some parties are going to end up in government after the next election.
“There could be three more years of this government. It’s a long, long time. It’s an eternity in politics.”
Mr Kelly said he would not be supporting a motion on the conference agenda put forward by Labour’s Longford-Westmeath branch that says TDs from Northern Ireland should be directly elected in a “National All Ireland Parliament”.
He said Labour would eventually “collectively support that happening in a modern redefined, possibly united Ireland.”
However, he said what was being proposed this evening is not part of the Belfast Agreement.
“So unfortunately, technically we won’t be able to support it. But the merit of it into the future is obviously something we’d support.”
The motion was defeated with 80 per cent of delegates against, 16 per cent in favour and 4 per cent abstaining.
The conference passed a motion 97 per cent to 2 per cent to say that the party should strongly campaign against British Government’s proposals on the legacy of the conflict in the North that would effectively ban all prosecutions related to the Troubles.
‘Perilous moment’
The British Labour party’s shadow Northern Ireland secretary Louise Haigh MP is attending the Conference in the Mansion House.
She said “it’s a perilous moment for Northern Ireland”.
Ms Haigh said there is “a Tory government in Westminster who is determined to continue to use Northern Ireland as an arena for their own poisonous game-playing and endless provocation with the European Union in order to satisfy their own political agenda in Britain.”
Mr Kelly said that the triggering of Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit deal – which the British government has been threatening – would be “horrendous” for the north and for Britain and he encouraged further engagement between the European Union and United Kingdom.
Ms Haigh said she’s hopeful after statements by both sides today that there “seems to be room for compromise” in talks that are set to resume next week.
On the Covid-19 pandemic Mr Kelly said that vaccine booster shots should be rolled out to the “whole country”.
They are currently limited to the over-60s, healthcare workers and people with certain medical conditions that make them vulnerable.
Mr Kelly says that he understands that Ireland has access to as many as 16 million vaccines and he said boosters could be rolled out to everyone and Ireland would still be able to contribute to the Covax scheme for sharing vaccines with developing countries.
He also called for greater use of antigen tests saying: “we have to use every tool in our armoury and they’re not being used.”
Worker’s rights
Senator Marie Sherlock said there will be a focus on workers’ rights at the conference including proposals to ban unpaid internships for young people and a call for the right to collective bargaining.
The party’s housing debate will include measures to strengthen renters rights and a motion in support of a referendum on including the right to housing in the constitution.
Senator Rebecca Moynihan said such a provision in the constitution is “not a panacea”.
But she said: “what it does do is it stops the government making those excuses that they can’t do things like bring it in three-year rent freeze that the Labour Party are calling for.”
