Analysis: Defensive Labour Party leader insists that he has no intention of stepping aside

Labour leader Brendan Howlin has no intention of stepping aside, despite ongoing calls for his resignation from grassroots members, he tells political correspondent Fiachra Ó Cionnaith.

THE usual ice-breaker in a conversation just before the Dáil returns is to ask a politician how was their summer.

But in the case of Brendan Howlin, it seems better to sidestep the question.

Since the Dáil broke for its summer recess in July, the Labour leader has faced growing calls from councillors across the country to step down and be replaced by party rival Alan Kelly.

The comments, in a drip-drip of ones and twos at first before an open letter to him was signed by 14 councillors last month insisting on the “need for change”, have crystalised a genuine fear the party is going nowhere under Mr Howlin’s watch and needs an injection of new ideas to simply survive in the face of mounting challenges from Sinn Féin and other left-wing parties.

However, speaking to the Irish Examiner ahead of the party’s annual pre-Dáil think-in this weekend, Mr Howlin is in no mood for giving up.

Despite acknowledging the leadership issue will be raised at the party’s meeting in Drogheda tomorrow and Monday, the former public expenditure minister believes Labour must put aside leadership disputes and “circle the wagons” on key policies such as housing, sensible taxation and helping Michael D Higgins retain the presidency.

Anything else, he said, should be put to one side — despite the fears of councillors facing local elections in just nine months’ time.

“We all want the Labour Party to succeed, it would be bizarre if everybody agreed on the right leader and as long as I’m in the party there will be people with different views.

“But I think there is a fixed view within the party generally that what is important now is to close ranks, move forward with our agenda, and re-connect with people who vote for us. Anything else is undermining that objective,” he said.

It sounds practical, but now that the cat is out of the bag on where a number of councillors — and Alan Kelly himself — stand on the leadership issue, it is easier said than done.

Alan Kelly is hoisted into the air as he celebrates being elected during the general election in 2016.

While Mr Howlin has been keen to point to the fact that other than Mr Kelly, all of Labour’s TDs and senators continue to back him, the same cannot be said for those outside Leinster House.

Asked if national politicians in Labour are out of touch with the reality of their dwindling support on the ground, Mr Howlin is defensive, insisting “there’s never been a motion from the executive board or anywhere else” for him to go.

However, while acknowledging he will have to address the matter with councillors this weekend, he was clear in ruling out any possibility of a leadership contest in the coming months — effectively confirming he will remain as leader at least until the next general election.

“I’m sure that would be a lovely thing to do [to hold a leadership contest] in the middle of all the crises I’ve talked about, to go around the country and talk to ourselves again,” Mr Howlin joked when asked if he will allow a leadership contest to bring an end to speculation.

“I believe anyone who believes you can just change the name on the door of the leader [and create wider reforms] is wrong, and I think most people you’ll find after this weekend will want us to close ranks, to work in consort as I intend to do with every member of the parliamentary party, with everybody, to a common objective,” he said.

What all this means for the party’s health spokesperson Alan Kelly, who revealed Ireland’s worst kept secret last month by taking to the airwaves to say he wants to replace Mr Howlin and has support from councillors, is an open question, and one the Tipperary TD did not respond to queries.

Alan Kelly has made several references to the leadership of the Labour Party. Picture: Eamonn Farrell

However, for now, Mr Howlin seems intent on trying — at least in theory — on keeping the public image of a united front intact, regardless of whether it is believable or not.

“I spoke to Alan on the phone at some length, I spoke to Alan yesterday in person. We had a long discussion on this issue on the phone.”

“I’ve expressed my views and he’s expressed his views to me, and he asked that we keep those discussions to ourselves and that’s what I’m going to do,” Mr Howlin said, adding when asked to describe their faltering relationship by saying it is “professional”, before adding somewhat unconvincingly “it’s... grand”.

Given the fact a new opinion poll is out this weekend, Mr Kelly’s own ongoing leadership ambitions and the concerns of councillors — all too aware of local elections coming fast over the horizon — how long that public attempt at a united front will last remains to be seen.

Given the circumstances, the question over the coming weeks to Mr Howlin of “how is your autumn” now seems increasingly unavoidable.