The Labour Party launched its election campaign today saying that it expects to gain several extra seats including a seat in every Dublin constituency, two in some constituencies, and four seats in Cork.
Signalling a strong preference for coalition with Fine Gael Labour leader Mr Ruairí Quinn said the party would not enter government with any party unless its "six election pledges" form part of the programme for government.
The Labour leader repeated his challenge to Fianna Fáil to explain how it intends to cost its election commitments saying "the days of fairytale manifestos are over."
Last week Mr Quinn announced details of his party's economic policy saying the Labour Party would "borrow prudently" to fund capital investment.
Mr Quinn also attacked critics who accused him of being overly prudent during his term as Minister for Finance in the 1990’s and called on the electorate to place their trust in him saying the country could now afford a proper health service.
The Labour leader said his party would launch its campaign manifesto tomorrow, whether the Taoiseach had announced the general election date or not.
He said he had expected Mr Ahern to call the election last week, but since that had not happened and he did not know when Mr Ahern intended to dissolve the government, the Labour Party had decided to begin its campaign today.
The Labour Party's manifesto is set to be outlined over the coming days and Mr Quinn said he was "confident" the Labour Party would gain more seats in this election, than in the last.
The party is fielding 46 candidates in 39 constituencies.