Howlin believes in Coalition return

A senior Labour minister said he believed the public will want to return his party with Fine Gael in the next election.

The minister for public expenditure and reform, Brendan Howlin, said he expected the issue of whether his party will want to partner Fine Gael in government again will come up at this weekend’s party convention.

The Coalition had provided stability at a time when it was essential, he said. “We have a proven track record, transforming failure into success and people will want to ensure in their vote that this success will continue.”

He described the support show for Labour in last weekend’s Fine Gael convention as “heartening”.

While Finance Minister Michael Noonan had raised the prospect of forming a coalition with independents, he said he believed it would be possible that a Fine Gael-labour government could be returned. The party ruled out forming a coalition with Sinn Féin and was reticent over an alliance with Fianna Fáil also. Mr Noonan said that despite falls in the opinion polls, he believedLabour would have “quite a credible result”.

The Coalition made big efforts earlier in the year to relaunch the Government after a series of disasters including Irish Water and property tax. At the time however, Labour minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said Fine Gael had let the side down as the public were frustrated with the government, but over issues not caused by Labour ministers.