Press conference:Pat Rabbitte stood down as Labour Party leader yesterday, taking full responsibility for the failure to win more seats or secure a change of government.
While his six-year tenure as party leader was due to run until October next year, Mr Rabbitte said he decided to resign the leadership in order to give a new leader more time to prepare for the forthcoming local and European elections.
He said that a Labour Party with 20 seats in the Dáil and six seats in the Seanad was a "creditable performance". However, given expectations that Labour would break out of its traditional niche, he conceded that the outcome fell short.
"After reflecting on this in recent weeks in the hills in west Kerry, I had to make a decision about whether I wanted to contest a second term . . . It seemed to me that putting off a decision until half the way through new Dáil probably wasn't the way to go. A beginning of the Dáil's lifetime is probably the best time to make way," he said.
"In the recent general election, Labour, under my leadership, had twin objectives: to win more seats in Dáil Éireann and, in alliance with Fine Gael, to form an alternative government. In the event, Labour . . . failed to replace the existing government. As leader, I take responsibility for that outcome," Mr Rabbitte said.
On the issue of Labour's electoral strategy, he said he was "absolutely convinced" that the party was right to form an alliance with Fine Gael which was unsuccessful, he said, by just a narrow margin.
"I feel I did give it my best shot . . . I enjoyed every, well almost, every single day of it. Before the 30th Dáil gets under way is the time to make way for a new leader."
He accepted that a minority in the party felt a Labour-FF government would have been a good outcome to the election, but Mr Rabbitte rejected this.
"As leader of the party you have to take responsibility for the future of the party. I'm absolutely persuaded that at this particular juncture in our history that if the Labour Party was to be seen as responsible for putting Fianna Fáil into office, I think we would pay a serious price coming out of that government. I was always anxious to prevent that."
Mr Rabbitte insisted that it would be a mistake to restrict the next leadership debate to whether Labour should attempt to form a pre-election alliance.
"The debate needs to be of a character which regenerates the party, that accepts the dramatic changes we've seen in Ireland over the last 15 years or so, and to demonstrate to as large a share of the electorate as possible the relevance of the Labour Party programme to modern Ireland."
As to whether he enjoyed the full support of the party during his time as leader, he said the party was probably "more united than it has been since 1922". He added: "I can only account, of course, for what people say to my face. I can't account for what some people may or may not have said behind my back."
Mr Rabbitte said he expected his successor will be in place by next October.
The party's national executive will meet on September 1st to decide on the process for nominations. An election of paid-up Labour Party members around the country is likely to follow later in the month.
In the meantime, Labour's deputy leader Liz McManus will take over as acting leader, in accordance with the party's constitution.
When asked if she would go forward for the leadership contest, she said: "I am acting leader at the moment, I've just taken the hot seat, so I think I'll wait for it to cool down before making any decision."
