Labour 'must change to become more relevant'

The Labour Party needs to change to become more relevant in modern Ireland, leader Eamon Gilmore said today.

The party needs to move beyond the image of solely championing the working class, he insisted.

At the final day of Labour national conference in Kilkenny, Mr Gilmore told members that promoting its identity was essential if it was to be a driving force for change in the 21st century.

“We must go beyond old images of a downtrodden proletariat and smokestack industries – beyond the idea of Labour as an interest group representing a particular form of paid manual employment,” he said.

“Yes, those are our origins, and we are proud of them. But the context of Labour today relates to work in a much wider sense.”

Mr Gilmore said the party was a very distinct political force in Ireland that offered voters something different from the two main parties.

“We are neither Fianna Fáil, nor Fine Gael. We are Labour. We are a very distinct third party,” he said.

“Our job is to offer the Irish people that third choice at every election. To do that, we have to organise as never before.

“But to organise better, we have to change.”

The Labour leader said a 21st Century Labour Commission, set up at last year’s conference to develop a blueprint for the party’s future, had not yet finished its work.

It is expected to present its findings to the party’s full conference in Mullingar next March.