The Labour leader Mr Ruair∅ Quinn last night signalled a strong preference for coalition with Fine Gael on the eve of a key debate on what his party will do after the next general election.
In his clearest indication yet that he sees coalition with Fianna Fβil only as a last resort, Mr Quinn said: "I would like to see Fianna Fβil defeated. I think Fianna Fβil should in fact spend a long period in opposition.
"An alternative coalition could be ourselves, Fine Gael, the Greens and one or two Independents perhaps," Mr Quinn told Cork's 96 FM. "These are all things that will be looked at after the election result."
Despite his personal preference, Mr Quinn will this morning support efforts to persuade delegates at Labour's annual conference to leave the post-election options open. The conference is likely to approve a motion from its executive committee that Labour should contest the election with the Fianna Fβil and Fine Gael options open, only making a decision at a conference after the election.
However there will be some support this morning for a motion calling on the party to rule out coalition with Fianna Fβil in advance of the election. Supporters of the motion will argue that Labour will not win enough anti-Government votes if it does not rule out putting Fianna Fβil back in power.
In making his eve-of-conference comments, Mr Quinn sought last night to reflect the widespread antipathy to coalition with Fianna Fβil among Labour members, while leaving Labour free to form a government with Fianna Fβil if there were no other option.
Party president Mr Proinsias de Rossa signalled support for the strategy of leaving all options open. He said it was essential that the party leadership had "the maximum flexibility possible to secure the implementation of key Labour Party policy positions after the election". However he launched a bitter attack on Fianna Fβil, saying the Cabinet had failed to deliver on promises. "Even though Fianna Fβil administrations in the past lacked political vision, some Fianna Fβil ministers at least offered competent management.
"With far fewer resources at their disposal, people like Sean Lemass, Jack Lynch and Donogh O'Malley made a real difference to Irish life and left lasting legacies to their time in office. The only legacy of the current Cabinet is the bitter taste of missed opportunities." He blamed the Government for the major house prices rises, longer local authority housing waiting lists, hospital waiting lists, a "shambles" of an asylum policy and high poverty. He said the Government was the first in the State's history to lose a referendum on the EU, had seen six of its deputies at the centre of ethical controversies, and had fought to the death to defend corporate donations to political parties. "Having been in Government for 11.5 of the past 14 years, Fianna Fβil Ministers have come to believe that they have some sort of automatic right to be in government," Mr de Rossa said.
"They have lost touch and grown indifferent to the sorts of problems that ordinary people experience."