Labour commits to pre-election ‘democratic alliance’ with FG and Greens

LABOUR leader Pat Rabbitte has committed his party to building an early alliance with Fine Gael and the Green Party to offer an alternative government in the 2007 general election.

Expanding yesterday on the call for a "democratic alliance" which he made during his keynote address to the Labour national conference on Saturday night, Mr Rabbitte said people were crying out for an alternative government.

He said he had decided forming an alliance was the only means of doing that, notwithstanding a diversity of views within his own party on the subject.

In his address to party delegates at Dublin's RDS, Mr Rabbitte pledged he would work towards presenting an alternative government to the electorate.

"I want to see this Government replaced with an alternative that is genuinely committed to a fair society based on social democratic principles, equal rights, liberty and the rule of law. So, I shall work with other democratic parties in Dáil Éireann to build a movement let us call it a democratic alliance in pursuit of that alternative," he said.

Mr Rabbitte, speaking to RTÉ yesterday, indicated his party would begin work on hammering out a pre-election deal with FG and the Greens after the European and local elections in June.

"The issue is being pressed on us everywhere we go," he said.

Saying his party was not able to provide an alternative alone, he said his intention was to create a "visible credible alternative (the electorate) can vote for".

Reacting to Mr Rabbitte's announcement yesterday, the Fine Gael spokesman said the party had been informed of the content of Mr Rabbitte's speech. He said Mr Rabbitte's views on an early pre-election pact reflected those of FG leader Enda Kenny who has already called for a 'caring coalition' made up of FG, Labour and the Greens.

"We have been working together effectively since Christmas," he said.

"Both leaders get on well together and both have shared objectives. We are seeing the start of something new. Enda Kenny is also determined that an alternative be presented to the Irish public," he said.

But Green Party leader Trevor Sargent yesterday sounded a slight note of caution.

"There is a lot of internal discussion within the Green Party about how we can put our own policies and principles forward. Whatever arrangement that we may seek will be based on the opinions that emerge from those discussions."

Mr Sargent nonetheless welcomed Mr Rabbitte's comments, saying it was a sign of the growing co-operation between the parties.