Breakdown in communication amid Labour battle of the generations

"The senior people get the senior positions. It’s the nature of politics," Labour’s chief whip, Emmet Stagg, mused on RTÉ radio the night of his party leader’s resignation. "The younger generation have to serve their time."

His comments were symptomatic of a generation gap in the party — between the office-holder class who’ve been in Cabinet for the past three years, and its younger, ambitious TDs — an aspect which was central to the decision of Eamon Gilmore to announce he was stepping down.

A group of seven TDs — all elected for the first time in 2007 — and one senator signed a no-confidence motion in the leader on Monday morning following weekend discussions over the disastrous election results for the party.