Labour of love: Brendan Howlin brings 36-year Dáil stint to an end

The TD and former government minister reflects on his near four decades in Irish politics

Labour Party TD Brendan Howlin has confirmed he will not be contesting the next general election. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

“It was the most difficult period, as I say, since independence in my judgement, because we genuinely, day to day didn’t know whether Ireland economically could survive."

Speaking to the Irish Examiner last year, Brendan Howlin laid out just how bleak the economic situation was when he and the Fine Gael-Labour coalition came to office in 2011.

Labour had run an impressive campaign, returning a record-breaking 37 seats as one in five voters gave the party a first preference, though the "Gilmore For Taoiseach" posters were probably overkill.

Appointed to the newly-created Public Expenditure and Reform portfolio, Mr Howlin would oversee budgets that brought about swingeing cuts and were dubbed "regressive" by the ESRI as welfare rates were hacked at, though he has long argued it had "the least impact on the most vulnerable". 

If Labour made a mistake, he has said, it was not to be upfront with the public about the scale of the work being done to protect the public finances. That lack of communication cost Labour dearly in 2016 as it took the brunt of a backlash against austerity and lost all but seven seats. Despite that cost, Howlin said he was “proud” of the work done by his party and himself.

Chaotic period

That chaotic period was always going to be the first part of the political obituary to one of the longest-serving politicians in the history of the State, but Mr Howlin argued on Friday that history would be kinder to both him and the Labour Party as he announced his intention not to run in the next general election. Maybe that's optimism, maybe it's just the pragmatism which has defined his four decades of public service.

Named after former Labour leader Brendan Corish, Mr Howlin's involvement in politics began with opposition to nuclear power in the late 1970s, which translated into a general election tilt in 1982. Though he was unsuccessful, he was nominated to the Seanad by Garret FitzGerald as part of the Fine Gael-Labour coalition which ran to 1987. 

From there, he would be elected to the Dáil and retain his seat over nine Dáileanna, topping the polls in 1989, 1992 and, most impressively, in 2016. That Mr Howlin, a central member of a government which ended its term deeply unpopular, would retain his seat and increase his vote share in the face of a wipeout for Labour was testament to his local popularity.

Party leadership

But his leadership of the party following that election saw him unable to reverse the tide flowing against Labour. Having initially sought the leadership in 1997 but losing out to Ruairí Quinn, Mr Howlin would take the position unopposed in 2016, tasked with rebuilding and finding an identity for a party which was being squeezed from both the left and centre. 

His reign saw an attempt by Alan Kelly to challenge his leadership which fizzled, but the Tipperary man's criticisms of Mr Howlin chimed with much of the public perception of Labour.

"We need a radical shake-up. We need to change the direction of the party. We need a different vision. We need far more energy," Mr Kelly said.

Mr Howlin effectively secured the support of his parliamentary party and isolated Mr Kelly, and the 2019 local elections saw Labour add six councillors, but vote share dropped to 5.7% as the Green Party wave showed the challenge on the left of the political spectrum. 

Mr Howlin would have viewed that result as somewhat positive, but the 2020 general election saw Labour take just six seats and lose 2.2 percentage points, falling to just 4.4% of votes.

With that, Mr Howlin's race was run and he stepped down as leader, "passing the baton" to Mr Kelly.

Coco's Law

Since then, he has seen his Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill, better known as Coco's Law, which criminalised the recording, distribution or publication of intimate images, come onto the statute books,

As he bows out, he remains steadfast in his belief that Labour has shaped the social agenda of Ireland, with particular reference to social issues.

His statement on Friday said it "has been and remains the privilege of my life to have represented my beloved Wexford in nine consecutive Dáileanna".

"I am forever grateful for the support I have received for almost four decades from the Wexford people and the wonderful members of the Labour Party. I remember those friends and comrades who have passed on down the years whose loyalty and fellowship I will always treasure.

“I have been most fortunate to have held many public offices. I have been leader and deputy Leader of my party. I have served as a Cabinet minister in three governments and witnessed the positive transformation of our country, both economically and culturally. I have had the opportunity to introduce into law many important and transformative pieces of legislation."