Election 2024: Taoiseach’s comments on transfers 'smack of desperation'
Sam Boal/collin Ivana Picture: Bacik Photos
A push by Fine Gael leader Simon Harris for voters to transfer among centrist parties like Fianna Fáil and Labour has been lambasted as “desperation” by Ivana Bacik.
The Labour Party leader criticised Mr Harris for the comments, setting out that she would first engage with other centre-left political parties to form a common negotiating bloc.
In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Mr Harris said: "I'm asking people to vote Fine Gael in the election... But then I am asking people to transfer to other centrist parties.”
He particularly highlighted both Fianna Fáil and Labour, saying that Fine Gael had worked well with both parties in the past.
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Hitting out, Ms Bacik said: “I saw the Taoiseach’s comments today and frankly I think they smack of desperation in the last few days of this campaign.”
Ms Bacik said her position on government negotiations has been clear for months and were set out well in advance of the campaign.
She said any negotiating bloc must have Labour and green values, "because we want to ensure that that vision and those values will shape the next government”.
The Labour leader was speaking as her party held its last press conference of the campaign, where she urged voters to give their number one vote to Labour candidates across the country.
Ms Bacik said anyone on the left who wants to see change will “see the merit” in coming together as a single bloc.
“We’ve always been serious about delivering change for Labour. Some parties may be content to stay in a state of permanent opposition. That’s not us,” Ms Bacik said.
“We want to deliver change and we know as trade unionists that the best way to do so is through a critical mass of numbers, through ensuring that there’s as many TDs as possible who share that vision of an active state and want to see that vision shaping the next government.”
The outgoing Dublin Bay South TD said she wants to see a growth in the number of Labour TDs, with 32 candidates running across the country. She particularly urged those who want to see a “radical reset” in housing policy to back her party.