Labour leader Ivana Bacik says party's 'absolute goal' is to build left alliance
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Labour has not ruled out going into coalition alone as the parliamentary party met for the first time since the general election.
Party leader Ivana Bacik has spoken to the three main party leaders, Micheál Martin, Mary Lou McDonald and Simon Harris, as a formality but remains focused on establishing a common platform on the left.
Labour will meet with the Social Democrats on Friday with the explicit purpose of forging a common platform and an agreed agenda for change, Ms Bacik said.
While the Dublin TD emphasised her preference for a left alliance, she did not rule out going into government without the Social Democrats.
When the possibility was put to her, Ms Bacik said: "We are engaging, very clearly, in a process now and that is our focus and our absolute goal is to build that common left position."
Labour has always been serious about going into government and delivering change for the people, she said.
"We don't believe in simply shouting from opposition benches so we are very serious about exploring routes into government to deliver change but we have also been clear that we do not go into government just to make up numbers, to prop up any of the bigger parties," Ms Bacik said.
Before the parliamentary team held its first official meeting, some members had already sounded the alarm about being a junior partner in a coalition given how it went for the Labour Party the last time it was in government as well as the decimation of the Green Party over the weekend.
The party leader dismissed the rumblings, saying the party would engage in a robust discussion and it would show "that unity of purpose whatever comes out of our parliamentary meeting".
"We have all consistently been of the view throughout this campaign that the approach we must prioritise is building that common platform across the left," Ms Bacik said.