Rabitte: Election battle has begun

The political battle for the next general election has already begun, the Labour party warned today.

Labour Leader Pat Rabbitte said the electioneering had kicked off after Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy this week agreed to renege his cabinet position to become Ireland’s next EU Commissioner.

Addressing the MacGill Summer School, Mr Rabbitte said: “Ireland today is one of the most unequal societies in the developed world.”

The Dublin South West TD said over the last two years there have been drastic changes on the Irish political scene, which were echoed by the change of direction voters took in the recent local and European elections.

The outcome of the elections saw Fianna Fáil lose control of many city and county councils, while Sinn Féin surged forward, as the Labour party, the Greens and Fine Gael both made strong gains.

Political heavyweights including Justice Minister Michael McDowell of the Progressive Democrats, Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton, Sinn Féin’s Mitchell McLaughlin, Fianna Fáil’s Brian Lenihan and Pat Rabbitte gathered in the Glenties in Co Donegal to debate how Ireland is to be governed in the 21st century and by whom.

Mr Rabbitte launched an attack on the current coalition government for what he said was a “neo-liberal or liberal market approach” which involved cutting taxes while keeping a lid on public spending.

He added: “Even Michael McDowell has to accept that the factors behind the change in our economic fortunes are much more complex than the adoption of his unadulterated liberal market economics.

“The truth is that virtually every force and element in Irish society has contributed to the economic transformation as have the various elements of the political spectrum.

Mr Rabbitte said Mr McCreevy had inherited an economy which was creating 55,000 jobs a year, and had an inflation rate of just 1.5%.

He accused the coalition of pushing spending out of control for the two-years prior to the last general election.

Fianna Fáil’s Minister for Children Brian Lenihan said Mr McCreevy had seen long-term unemployment cut by 80% in his seven-years as finance minister.

The Dublin West TD said: “Five billion in tax cuts has been returned to Irish workers and economic growth has averaged over 8% per annum since 1997.

“He has also proven to be a prudent Minister for Finance, ensuring an ongoing reduction in the burden of our national debt.”

Mr McDowell said he believed the people of Ireland had an appetite for reconciliation.

He said: “Our challenge in Ireland is to build in both parts of the island a new spirit of reconciliation and a new understanding that, whatever form our democratic institutions may take from time to time, our future lies in a society built on, and compatible with, diversity.”

The justice minister said it was ironic that hostility to the EU seemed to be strongest among both ends of the spectrum of politics in the North.

He added: “I wonder is it a bridge too far to envisage in the medium term that the people of Ireland could share their future in Europe by pooling Ireland’s status in Europe as part of the North South institutions between the two parts of this island, entirely without prejudice to the constitutional issues of unionism or a united Ireland.”

Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton claimed the way forward for Ireland to tackle the current challenges was from the radical centre ground in politics.

He said: “Championing change from the middle ground in politics is a very different endeavour from slipping into a cosy consensus with the contented.”

“As new more complex challenges emerge in health, in education, in the family, in economic development, the limitation of present approaches are being exposed,” he added.

He said the phenomenon of ‘Budget Day’ should be done away with as it causes short-term thinking, while downplaying the long-term costs.