Labour deputy tones down his criticism of pact

Dublin North East:Dublin North East Labour TD Tommy Broughan has drawn back from remarks he made criticising party leader Pat Rabbitte for the voting pact with Fine Gael which "cannibalised" Labour's votes.

Mr Broughan had been scathing of the so-called Mullingar Accord, the agreement with Fine Gael to run for election as an alternative coalition.

In an RTÉ interview in the early hours of Saturday morning he questioned Mr Rabbitte's leadership, and said the strategy resulted in the party losing ground to Fine Gael rather than to the Government.

Labour votes had been cannibalised by Fine Gael, and as a result the party did not gain extra seats. "We've been becalmed," he insisted.

However, by Saturday afternoon, when he was declared elected on the second day of the count, he had considerably toned down his remarks. He refused to criticise directly the accord or Mr Rabbitte, and said Mr Rabbitte's leadership would not be an issue when the parliamentary party met this week.

The party's membership had decided to follow the strategy, he said. "I support party policy and I support my party colleagues and our party leader."

He added, however, that he had had a "ferocious struggle" with Sinn Féin on the left and Fine Gael on the right, and "most of my colleagues had a similar experience with the arrangement we had".

He said those issues would be discussed at the party meeting, but the leadership would not be.

As the only Labour candidate, Mr Broughan had, as expected, retained his seat in a mainly working class constituency.

His views on what strategy Labour should adopt were well known. Quoting the party's founder, James Connolly, he said Labour was strongest when it stood alone.