Labour ‘communicating’ but no one is listening

The mantra from Labour has been: ‘We must communicate better!’ Sometimes, the person with whom one wishes to communicate no longer wishes to hear.

Attempting to renegotiate the agreement for government is the correct short-term tactic.

But it would be pointless, if not harmful, if it went on for months and ended in a back-down, or small, stale crusts, for Labour. Ask Michael McDowell or John Gormley. It should be a week, maximum. Plus bags packed and walking shoes at the ready.

Labour has lost any chance of ‘communicating better’ its present posture or image — let alone its actual record in Government since 2011.

Only one in 20 (less than 5%) of those who voted in the by-election gave their first-preference vote to Labour. Even if the party scraped its way back to twice that percentage, (10%), it will lose most — if not all — its previous gains in the locals and Europeans next year.

As for the general election, whenever it comes, and it could be sooner than two, let alone three, years, Labour in its current guise will not figure in voters’ minds as a serious player.

In Meath East, Labour was irrelevant. Nothing short of a complete remake and rebranding can save the party from oblivion. Sadly, unless Eamon Gilmore proves himself to be an Olympic-level gymnast, that means a different face on the leader posters.

Maurice O’Connell

Tralee

Co Kerry