Gilmore has acted on behalf of the country

Though not a Labour supporter, I take my hat off to Eamon Gilmore. He and the Labour Party have followed a quiet, but determined, ‘Tallaght strategy’ in Government over the last three years, putting the interests of country first and the interests of party second.

No-one likes higher taxes or cuts in services, the medicine handed to us by the Troika following Fianna Fáil’s disastrous policies.

Gilmore has led his party in accepting the medicine with considerable grace and fortitude, and has tried to spoon it out with some equity to offset its less palatable effects. Gilmore stands tall among those, including Enda Kenny, who have answered the call: ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country’.