As nominations close today for the election of a new Labour Party leader, support for Mr Ruairi Quinn is gaining momentum. Sen ior sources in the party's general council claim he is pulling ahead of his rival, Mr Brendan Howlin. With four days to go to polling, sources in the council, the party's governing body, yesterday estimated Mr Quinn had a core of 28 "solid, committed votes", needing only half a dozen more for victory, and that the momentum was in his favour. By contrast, they said the number of Mr Howlin's identifiable supporters stood at about 18 votes but that the contest was "far from over".
Meanwhile, Mr Michael D. Higgins last night said "the possibility is still there" that he would become a candidate at close of nom inations this evening. A weekend meeting of party activists in Galway was unanimous in asking him to go forward and, while such a move "is unlikely", he was not ruling it out.
After a weekend of making contact with the 64-strong electorate in the parliamentary Labour Party and the general council, Mr Quinn told The Irish Times he was "reasonably confident" of victory. If elected, he would not have the kind of "tight group" of advisers which gathered around his predecessor, Mr Dick Spring.
"Because of the divisions in Labour at the time, a tight group grew up around him and that group became an integral part of his leadership. It was necessary at the time and the party was successfully unified. I would not want to sound critical of the group but a lot of backbenchers felt there was a tight clique that excluded them," Mr Quinn said. Along with Mr Howlin he will outline his vision for the future of the party and its reorganisation when a joint meeting of the parliamentary Labour Party and general council convenes for the leadership election. Voters will today receive a lengthy letter from Mr Howlin outlining the need for a fundamental reorganisation of the party and identifying the "radical social democratic programme for the next decade" which would be developed under his leadership.
In it, he proposes a "sharp and modern" presentation of Labour's values of "community and solida rity", emphasises the need to attract new recruits and questions whether the present branch structure is the best available.
Mr Howlin said the gap between himself and Mr Quinn was "very close" but his core vote was holding up solidly and he was building on this.
Mr Quinn's campaign got a boost at the weekend when Labour Youth decided to support his candidacy. Although Mr Tommy Broughan of Dublin North East remains the only member of the parliamentary Labour Party to declare publicly in favour of Mr Quinn, it is understood that all the other Dublin TDs and senators also intend to support him.
A clear majority of the electorate supports Mr Quinn to be the next Labour Party leader, according to a poll published today.
Mr Quinn has the backing of 52 per cent of voters, compared with 30 per cent for Mr Howlin and 18 per cent don't knows, according to the Irish Independent/IMS poll.