Killarney Mayor: Labour and Fianna Fáil should merge

The Mayor of Killarney believes the Labour and Fianna Fáil parties should merge.

Sean Counihan - who is a long-time member of the Labour Party - has said the move could help restore stability to the country and help stem the threat posed by those on the extreme left of Irish politics.

He said the rhetoric from politicians including deputies Joe Higgins and Richard Boyd Barrett was "street politics without solutions".

The Labour councillor told Radio Kerry: "I just feel that maybe now the time is right (for the parties to merge). There is a window of opportunity, I feel, from time to time to create a right-left divide in the country, which I think would be good for the country going forward.

"I feel that those within the two parties who have a genuine interest in the body politic could have a conversation and see how they could maybe fight off what I see as an extreme left with no policy coming forward.