Labour leader Ivana Bacik has said her party’s priority is to build a platform “on the left” before speaking to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil about going into government.
Ms Bacik, who held on to her 2021 by-election seat in Dublin Bay South, said she will speak to the Social Democrats and the Green Party first, but did not rule out going into government with the two bigger parties.
Last week, Ms Bacik described a push by Fine Gael Simon Harris to transfer votes to parties like Fianna Fáil and Labour as “desperation”.
She appealed to the public to vote for “radical” change and “centre-left” parties.
Asked if her party would go into government with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, Ms Bacik said: “I have said consistently that we are serious about delivering change.
“We want to offer people and communities the change that is so badly needed and that is why we have said that after the election, when we know the shape of the next Dail, the first people we will speak to will be those other parties and groupings who share our centre-left vision and our values.
“We will speak first then to the Soc Dems, to the Green Party next week once we know the shape of the next Dáil.
“Our first priority is to build that common platform on the left. We have seen significant gains for us in Labour and we will be coming back with a bigger parliamentary party.”
She added: “The first thing I will do is to speak to those parties and groupings who have a share our vision and our values.
So far Labour has secured eight seats in the Dáil, an increase of one on the 2020 general election – although the total number of TDs has also been increased from 160 to 174.
That number includes six first-time TDs: Marie Sherlock, Robert O’Donoghue, Ciarán Ahern, Mark Wall, Conor Sheehan and George Lawlor.
“We had a really positive weekend and we are seeing a really strong and new generation of candidates coming forward, we are going to be coming back with an increase in number in our parliamentary party,” Ms Bacik said.
“I am so pleased to see that new generation carrying through that momentum we have in the locals and the European elections.
“We want to build on that and that common platform.”
She acknowledged the “difficult” experience of the Green Party over the last two days.
“It’s not easy to put yourself up for election. It takes courage and I want to acknowledge those, not just our own Labour candidates, but also Greens who lost their seats,” she added.
Ahern ‘thrilled’ to be among cohort of fresh faces
One of the party’s new TDs, Ciarán Ahern, has said he was “absolutely delighted” and “thrilled” to be elected.
He said ten seats is a “good result” for the party, adding that it was the product of a “real slog over the last ten years or so” since the party left the Government.
Mr Ahern said Labour had done the hard work, listened to people and built back trust since the 2016 general election that saw the party lose the vast majority of its seats.
“Over time, people have shown that they are again ready to hear the Labour voice, and to listen to what we have to say about creating a kinder and fairer and more sustainable country, and that has come through in spades today,” he said.
The party had learnt a “huge number of lessons” since they were last in office and would not enter a government for the sake of it, he said.
However he added that he was of the belief “that you can achieve more through being in government than being outside of it”.
Nonetheless he reiterated the words of Ms Bacik that they would speak to similar-minded parties first.
