Labour was no longer prepared to be a "mudguard" for the conservative parties in Ireland, the party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, has said. He told a gathering of European socialists in Dublin yesterday that arguments against a coalition between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael no longer had any validity.
Mr Quinn said Labour best represented the values of the Irish people and any decision to participate in government would be made on the basis of how far the party's values could be advanced.
"Labour was the first party to champion the `liberal agenda' and challenge the domineering role of the church in Irish life. Contraception, divorce and gay rights all enjoyed Labour support.
"Electoral law reform, ethics laws for politicians and State officials and freedom of information legislation have accompanied Labour's traditional social democratic agenda on the economic issues.
"It will be Labour too that champions the new emerging Ireland. New liberal agendas are taking shape. Take race, for example. Only Labour will create an Ireland that will be outward-looking rather than inward-looking, an Ireland that will be multicultural rather than monocultural."
He pointed out that as more of "the shibboleths about old Ireland" were being laid bare, support for the two largest parties had fallen below 60 per cent in the opinion polls.
"Both have always rejected the possibility of coalition with each other because it would be bad for democracy. That argument hardly holds any more. The 1993 Fianna Fail/Labour government enjoyed similar support levels and democracy has endured."
He continued: "Labour is no longer anybody's mudguard. We are no longer there to make up the numbers. We have a vision of Ireland that is caring and inclusive.
"We believe it best represents the values of the Irish people. We are prepared to commit our nation's new-found resources to achieving it. We will serve or not serve in government in so far as we can advance those values.
"We merged with our sister socialist party - Democratic Left - two years ago to help us achieve our ambition to shake up Irish politics. It is our intention to make Labour the second-largest party in the State.
"Only from that position will Fianna Fail's stranglehold on Irish politics be effectively challenged. Sean Lemass once said that Labour aspired to the heights in Irish politics but did not have the stomach for the journey. We do now," Mr Quinn said.
Mr Quinn was speaking at the "Summer University" of the Party of European Socialists, which is being held this year in Trinity College.
Inhis address the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume, told delegates it was the people who lived in a territory that mattered, not the territory itself.
"Difference is the essence of humanity and should never be the source of hatred and conflict," Mr Hume said.