Rabbitte must slay a few myths before he can make real progress

ALL Irish political parties have their myths. They can be useful in motivating membership and cementing internal party unity.

However, at a recent all-party forum organised by the SDLP in Dublin some of the myths advanced by a Labour Party speaker were particularly striking and acutely self-delusional.

The first great Irish Labour Party myth is that its failure to be anything more than a medium-sized party is the fault of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. The theory goes that if FF and FG, and their civil war baggage, would only get out of the way, then the electorate would be as enlightened as the rest of Europe and vote on a class basis.