Labour has just as much right to be pragmatic as any other party

I REMEMBER an old and wise politician telling me once that you could sum up the difference between the three largest political parties in Ireland this way.

If newspapers wrote harsh things about Fianna Fáil, the papers would be burned at the cumann meetings and the reporters hunted out of town. If they wrote harsh things about Fine Gael, members of the party would write long, worthy and dull letters to the editors explaining how the newspapers had got it wrong and how Fine Gael was only there for your own good. And if the newspapers wrote harsh things about the Labour Party, party members would swallow it all and immediately propose a motion of no confidence in the party leader.

Right now, of course, there’s a whole lot of stirring going on. And, in the middle of it, while there’s no question of a motion of no confidence or anything like that, Pat Rabbitte has to keep his nerve.