Brendan Howlin rules out dual party voting pact

Labour leader Brendan Howlin has insisted his party will run “independently” at the next election and will not be “beholden to anyone” after delegates ruled out any pre-vote pact with rivals.

However, he has again left the door open for talking to Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin about forming a future government, saying Labour has an obligation to do so post-election if it has enough TDs to be a “defining element” of a coalition.

Speaking on the first night of Labour’s annual conference in Wexford, Mr Howlin said regardless of his belief the party must consider re-entering government, he will not seek a return to a version of the 2007 pre-election Mullingar accord pact with Fine Gael or any other party.