Labour candidate calls for unity of purpose to win seat and change Government

Issued : Friday 10 December, 2010

Laois-Offaly Selection Convention speech

I am grateful for the confidence and trust being placed in me by the Labour Party here in Laois-Offaly and I don't take it lightly or for granted and I want to assure you that I will do everything in my power to justify that confidence and earn that respect.

Of course I am grateful for the vote of confidence placed in me by Joe Murphy, Chairman of the Portlaoise Branch my proposer and Margaret Guijt-Lawlor from Portarlington my seconder - I won't let you down. I will do my utmost, day and night now to represent Labour to the best of my ability and offer a viable, coherent and credible alternative to the voters of Laois-Offaly - an alternative to the same old, same old being rolled out again by the other parties.

I am genuinely getting a great reaction and response to the option of a fresh face, with fresh ideas, offering a fresh start.

There is so much that you could say about the failings and failures of Brian Cowen's failed Government that it hard to know where to start - but for me one of their abiding legacy's, apart from the hardship they are imposing on the ordinary families, is the divisiveness which they have sown.
They have set unemployed people against people with jobs - sure aren't you lucky to have a job is a regular snide taunt!
They have set Irish workers against non-Irish workers - who are characterised as ripping off the country!
They have set the private sector worker against their public sector neighbours - because of the spin that they have it too cushy and are not being cut enough!
They have set people on the minimum wage against old age pensioners - because one of them got it in the neck last Tuesday in the Budget taking a hit of €41 a week while pensioners were not cut this time - because the Fianna Fail backbenchers are afraid of being lynched by the grannies of Ireland.
They have even divided families as more and more parents tell me of sons and daughters who won't be home this Christmas - as they have left for work in Vancouver and Sydney and the likes - no golden handshake for them. And Mary Coughlan says they should enjoy the experience!

But I am done complaining and criticising. And now I want to do something directly about getting shut of this Government once and for all and for certain the Labour Party and its policies of fairness, job creation and putting people first ahead of reckless banks is the best way of achieving this under the leadership of Eamon Gilmore. Not just a new Government but a new style of Government, a new system of governance and accountability where Ministers take responsibility. It is no longer possible to sit on the fence. We must offer hope and we are not helpless. Anyone who cares at all about others must be provoked into action and remove this Government.

I am calling on everyone in the room here this evening to not let us be divided, but to unite in a worthy and worthwhile common purpose and objective and help remove this Government, and give the voters of Laois-Offaly an opportunity to do so by supporting a strong Labour candidate who will fight for their interests in Dail Eireann.
But be under no illusion this will not be an easy task or a shoo-in, it will be a mighty challenge. Here in Laois-Offaly we have first of all to be positioned ahead of Sinn Fein on the first count; Fine Gael are putting up four candidates and their polls suggest they are in the running for 3 seats and anyone who thinks that Brian Cowen is going to go quietly is as mistaken and as deluded as he is as we can see from his bravura performances on Prime Time this week.
Pat Gallagher achieved this objective in 1992, it can be done again, but it won't be easy and let no one be under any illusion about that, but know this too, that I'm well up for the battle ahead.

The dogs on the street know that we need a new Government, and after this week's Budget even the blind dogs know it - as the blind pension, disabled pension and carer's allowance wasn't spared as the senior AIB executives laugh all the way to the bank with their multi-million bonuses. And now the Government are going to do something about the big bonuses when it's too late - always a day late and a dollar short.

Brian Cowen has not only been a poor leader but he has repeatedly misled the people of our country. Remember the soft landing he promised when he was the Minister for Finance? Remember he said we would have no truck with the IMF, but he was already lifting the latch and letting them in the back door.
He got into a game of poker with the ECB and the IMF - but it turned out to be a game of strip poker and he has left us bollock naked as a country.
Now, strangely enough this week Brian Cowen and his Government are back gambling with our lives and suggesting that theirs is the only hand to play - theirs is the only show in town - they are the only ones who can be trusted to manage the economy. Well, we heard that one before.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me - we're not going to fall for that stunt a second time!

The worse is not over yet. The worse will be over when we remove this flawed and failed Government from office. They are totally drunk on power, detached and deluded. They have to be shown how the other half live, not in Dail Eireann but in Dole Eireann - all 450,000 of us, as tens of thousands of others are forced to emigrate.
I appeal to everyone to support the Labour Party in Laois-Offaly and Eamon Gilmore across the country for real change and a fresh start for us all. Join the Labour party and get your family and friends to take action now and in so doing take control of our future - as we're not helpless and it's not hopeless, but we must have a new Government with Labour at its heart so that we can start over and make a genuine fresh start.

This present Government have run out of road; they have run out of ideas and it's time they were run out of town.

Thank you