Labour divided as Broughan savages Rabbitt over pact

national | worker & community struggles and protests | news report Saturday May 28, 2005 12:54 by Chris - LP

In a stirring speech to delegates at the Labour Annual Conference, Tommy Broughan TD robustly attacked Pat Rabbitte’s leadership of the party. Broughan was speaking on the debate on Rabbitte’s plans for a pre-election pact with Fine Gael.

He described Fine Gael as a ‘party of old money that had been in continuing decline’ since the 50s. He said he was horrified at a ‘sickening vista’ of a ‘reckless and dangerous’ pre-election pact that was only going to damage the party and allow Sinn Fein outflank them.

Other speakers on the topic attacked the proposals. Frank Kelly from the National Executive Council speaking against Rabbitte’s motion claimed the move would tie the party in to a pact with a center right government and reduce the party’s flexibility to fight the general election.

John Bolger speaking on behalf of the ATGWU strongly condemned Rabbitte’s motion, he claimed Fianna Fáil & Fine Gael were one side of the one coin and that the Labour party should fight the election on an independent footing. He went on to say the last time Labour went in to coalition with FG they lost 50% of their seats and the Democratic Left went out of existence. He pleaded with the delegates to oppose the motion.

In what can only be described as a poor speech on the topic, Pat Rabbitte told Labour Party delegates that it was time to ‘get the insiders out’ and pleaded with delegates to support his position.