Fine Gael and Labour join forces on the hustings

FINE GAEL and Labour moved closer to an eventual general election pact yesterday when the two parties decided to canvass together in Kildare.

FG leader Enda Kenny and Labour leader Pat Rabbitte joined Darren Scully and Paddy McNamara, their respective candidates for Friday’s North Kildare by-election, at a brief joint canvass at the Tesco shopping centre in Maynooth.

They did so to promote the vote-transfer pact they had agreed in February for both this by-election and a second one in Meath, which also takes place on Friday. The pact concerns transfers only, and does not mean the parties agree on all policy issues.

Both Mr Kenny and Mr Rabbitte insisted yesterday they were concentrating on the by-elections rather than a shared long-term agenda. But when asked if the vote-transfer pact represented another step towards a general election agreement, Mr Kenny replied: “Yes, absolutely.”

He cited the Mullingar Accord - the strategy the two parties formulated last year to implement an agreed programme in Westmeath by cooperating at county council level - teamwork in the Dáil, and yesterday’s joint canvass as examples of the progress they were making.

Mr Kenny stressed, however, that there were party structures to go through before he could agree an alternative programme for government with Labour, adding: “We’ll be focusing on the two by-elections first.”

Mr Rabbitte said likewise. “The pact is really designed to address the two imminent by-elections, and maximising the opposition vote. In terms of its implication for the future, that debate is going to continue ... and we will be discussing the issue of electoral strategy at our annual conference in Tralee (in May).”

However, he said the vote-transfer agreement for the by-elections “makes perfect sense in two constituencies where no one is going to be remotely near a quota in the first count”.

In Meath, FG’s Shane McEntee is a narrow favourite to take the seat vacated by John Bruton, but is facing stiff competition from FF’s Shane Cassells. Vote transfers from Labour candidate Dominic Hannigan could be crucial.

In North Kildare, where the seat formerly held by Charlie McCreevy is up for grabs, Labour’s Paddy McNamara will need significant transfers from the FG candidate, Darren Scully, if he is to beat the narrow favourite, Independent Catherine Murphy.

“The transfers between Scully and McNamara and McEntee and Hannigan will be critical,” Mr Kenny said.

“We’re asking the people of North Kildare and Meath to transfer as tightly between the two parties as possible,” Mr Rabbitte added. “After that, it’s a decision for the electorate themselves. But the objective, I think, is fairly clearly conveyed to people.”