Gilmore: Labour to target 50 Dáil seats

LABOUR leader Eamon Gilmore says he is targeting at least 50 seats in the general election.

Mr Gilmore initially refused to make a prediction on seat numbers yesterday when asked about his claim that Labour could win the election and make him Taoiseach in the process.

But he said Labour would need to win at least 50 seats if they were to lead the next government.

“I would expect to break 50 seats — in order to lead the next government, it would be necessary to do that, and that’s what we’ll be aiming to do,” he told RTÉ Radio.

He accepted he would not be Taoiseach if Labour failed to win the most seats.

But he insisted Labour could still emerge as the biggest party despite recent polls which show Fine Gael with a comfortable lead.

Mr Gilmore again made clear he would not enter coalition with either Fianna Fáil or Sinn Féin.

Asked if he was therefore telling voters a Fine Gael-Labour coalition was the only option, he replied: “It’s the most likely outcome of the election.”

But Mr Gilmore exposed another of the potential fault lines between Fine Gael and Labour yesterday by insisting that the Oireachtas must legislate for abortion in instances where a woman’s life or health is at risk.

His position puts him at odds with Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny, who wants to send the issue to an all-party Oireachtas committee for consideration — a process likely to delay legislation considerably.

But Mr Gilmore said he believed the Oireachtas now had to face up to its responsibilities following the recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on the issue.

Legislation should be enacted within the five-year lifetime of the next Dáil, he said.

“The Labour Party has very clear policy on this for quite some time. We have said that where the life or health of a mother is at risk, that we should have the legal possibility in this country to have a medical termination of pregnancy,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of the issue being part of the negotiations between Fine Gael and Labour on the formation of the next government, he replied: “I think there isn’t any option. The European Court of Human Rights has been very clear that Ireland is out of kilter now with the Convention on Human Rights as regards its legislative position.

“I appreciate that this is a difficult issue and it is one that creates a great deal of division. But it is something that the legislature should face up to.”