Joan Burton warns against ‘right of centre’ FG-FF coalition

Tánaiste and Labour leader Joan Burton has said a Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil coalition government would be “very strongly right of centre” and would not represent the views of progressive voters.

Reacting to the findings of the latest Ipsos MRBI opinion poll, in which Labour support dropped to six per cent, Ms Burton said “widely divergent” polls had raised the prospect of 30, 40 or 50 Independents and small party TDs with diverse agendas being elected.

“I see a lot of commentators talking up a Fianna Fáil/Fine Gael government that essentially would be very strongly right of centre, so it’s hard for progressive voters in that situation to see much of the reform agenda that is required in this country actually being addressed in the next Dáil.”

Asked if she agreed with Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s reference to “whingers” in his Mayo constituency, Ms Burton said: “No I don’t agree with that”.

Ms Burton said she met people every day who were still feeling a “pinch” and had not experienced the fruits of economic recovery.

She said it was good for Mr Kenny to hear that people had issues, difficulties and analyses that was different from his. The word “whingers” was “not a term I would use,” she added.

Launching her party’s plans for equal access to education at an Educate Together school in Dublin 4, Ms Burton said Labour would deliver 100 new multi-denominational schools by 2021, which was double the current number.

She said it was unfair that parents felt pressured to baptise their children, against their own beliefs, to secure a school space.

Labour would amend the Equal Status Act to ensure publicly funded schools prioritised children from the local community, rather than focusing on their religion.

She said Educate Together had noted only the Labour Party was proposing to make funding available to support a growth in multi-denominational education.

Turning to Sinn Féin, Ms Burton accused the party of doing a U-turn in its approach to the USC.

She said Sinn Féin had campaigned with leaflets and posters that the USC was “the absolutely worst tax in this country” when the current Government first took office.

“A bit like the old Stalinist photos of old, those particular posters and cards, which were sent in their tens of thousands to the Labour Party, have vanished. They’ve just been edited out, as Sinn Féin tend to do,” she said. “But that’s what they believed once.”

She said Independents had difficulty agreeing something as simple as speaking slots in last Dáil.

Ms Burton said she would like to ask voters to “think twice” before they cast their ballot on Friday and look at the prospects for a “solid, stable” government with the Labour Party “at its heart”.

She said she was “very, very confident” of retaining her seat in the Dublin West constituency and she expected many Labour candidates would do very well in contrast to what polls had been predicting.

Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil’s justice spokesman Niall Collins said the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll showed the party has seen “some degree of recovery”.

“We are being received well but ultimately Friday will tell the tale.”

Mr Collins said the party has been clear on its position on coalition options.

He said Fianna Fáil not prop up any Fine Gael-led Government and it is offering voters a new alternative.

Mr Collins said: “Fine Gael came into this election thinking it would be a coronation that they would just have to go round the course and complete the hurdles. But they now know there are in a contest and that they are under pressure in the polls.”