Dún Laoghaire TD Eamon Gilmore has ruled out seeking an alliance with any other party if elected leader of the Labour Party, insisting his focus will be on rebuilding Labour and reaffirming its core values.
Mr Gilmore formally announced his candidacy for the leadership yesterday and is firm favourite to succeed Pat Rabbitte, who stepped down last week.
The 52-year-old, who is the party's environment spokesman, said his focus if elected leader would not be on electoral strategy or future coalitions but on "the renewal of Labour in Ireland" and the reassertion of is core values - equality, justice and a fair society - which need to be related to the realities of modern life.
Asked by The Irish Timesif he would entertain going into coalition with Fianna Fáil at a future date, Mr Gilmore said: "We don't know when the next election will be or in what circumstances it is going to be called and I have no intention of going there. My focus will be on building up the Labour Party independent of any other party."
Mr Gilmore's chances of becoming leader were given a boost with the announcement on Monday by Brendan Howlin that he would not run. Labour chief whip Emmet Stagg yesterday backed Mr Gilmore, saying he believed he is best placed to lead the party at this stage in the run-up to the local and European elections in June 2009 and the next Dáil election in 2012.
Other possible leadership contenders have yet to declare their intentions. It is widely expected that finance spokeswoman Joan Burton will declare before the end of the week.
Ms Burton said yesterday she was still taking soundings and had not managed to speak to all members of the parliamentary party. She hoped to make a decision ahead of the National Executive Council meeting on Saturday, which will set a date for the close of nominations.
Dublin North East TD Tommy Broughan, and Dublin North West TD Róisín Shorthall are also considering their positions, while acting leader Liz McManus said she would not make up her mind until after the NEC meeting.
Limerick East TD Jan O'Sullivan has already said she will be contesting the deputy leadership, while newly elected Cork South Central TD Ciarán Lynch said yesterday he was considering entering the race for deputy leader after being approached by a number of party members.
Mr Gilmore said last night that the Mullingar pact with Fine Gael was a once-off for the 2007 election, and given that no one knows when the next general election will be, the focus would not be on alliances or pacts at this stage.
"The only thing on my mind is rebuilding the Labour Party." He said the fact that the Green Party "went over to the other side" into coalition with Fianna Fáil has left Labour in a strong position to make an impact on the opposition benches, particularly in the area of the environment.
He said looking through the programme for government he could not see how it took 10 days for the Greens to agree it. "It's not the programme that we would have negotiated if we were there," he said.
Mr Gilmore said his emphasis would be on renewing and revitalising the party's organisation, especially at local and constituency levels.
"The project which I propose is not confined to the party itself. Our country needs new and relevant politics, based on ideas and substance, rather than just image and spin," he said.
Mr Gilmore, who ran for the leadership in 2002, said the party would aim to win close to 30 seats at the next general election. By building an active campaigning organisation in every constituency it should be capable of winning a seat in every constituency within two elections, he added.
Labour needed to break free of its "half-party" mindset and must reach out and be relevant in all parts of the country and every strand of society "while always remaining true to our core social democratic values of equality and justice". He intended to provide an open style of leadership which consults and involves people.