The opposition in the new Dail is fractured but shares a left wing perspective on many issues. It should coalesce, argues Eamon Gilmore
Fine Gael should stop blaming Labour for its own poor performance in the general election. It is 20 years since Fine Gael was last elected to government, and over that time it has lost five successive general elections, under four different leaders.
Fine Gael lost 23 seats in this election, not because it lacked transfers from Labour, but because it did not get enough first preferences to begin with.
I have great respect for John Bruton, something which, I was surprised to read in yesterday's Irish Times, he does not reciprocate. Mr Bruton is capable of making his case, without recourse to the uncharacteristic and inaccurate personal bile with which he laced his article.
Election 2002 is now over, and there is little point in recrimination, blame or mutual insult about the conduct of the respective campaigns. The what ifs of 2002 will not win the next election in 2006 or 2007.
Labour should calmly carry out its own post-election analysis, and get on with the urgent task of constructing a new opposition which will be capable of defeating Fianna Fáil at the next election.
This general election re-elected the government and changed the opposition. But there still is an opposition! Whether the next government is FF/PD or FF/Independents, there will be almost 80 TDs on the opposition benches.
For the first time, however, there is no single party which can claim to be the national opposition, or even to be the majority part of it. The opposition benches in the 29th Dáil will be occupied by two medium-sized parties, three small parties and 13 Independents.
How coherent and effective can it be? And, from its disparate components, can an alternative to Fianna Fáil be constructed for the next general election?
Every democracy needs a good opposition, effective enough to make a government accountable, and big enough to give the people a credible choice of government at a general election.
Ireland needs it more than most. By the next election, Fianna Fáil will have been in power for 17 out of 20 years. They have already been in power for 52 of the past 70 years. Apart from Mexico, there are few countries where one party has had such a continuous grip on power.
They appoint the judges, the senior gardaí, the top military officers, the top civil servants, the members of state boards and of the authorities which oversee broadcasting. Most of the country's newspapers are owned by one group, which also happens to support the one governing party. If there were never tribunals, this would still be unhealthy.
At first glance, the fracturing of the opposition may appear to prolong Fianna Fáil's grip on power. But the new opposition also has the potential to be reconstructed and to provide a political alternative to Fianna Fáil.
The political complexion of the new opposition is predominantly left of centre, including the Labour Party, others on the left and social democrats in Fine Gael. Most of the new independents have been elected on public service issues such as health, arguing for policies very similar to those of the Labour Party.
There is, therefore, an ideological compatibility among most elements of the opposition, or at least among their voters. All of this should make it possible for the multi-stranded opposition to combine on key issues in the 29th Dáil.
Co-operating in opposition is one thing. Constructing a credible alternative government is, as we know from this election, a much more difficult challenge.
The role and attitude of Labour and Fine Gael will be central. The deputies of both parties are essential to provide the critical mass, which is necessary for an alternative government to be credible.
Labour is in the best position to lead the assembling of a left-of-centre alternative to Fianna Fáil. It is uniquely placed to pull together social democrats in Fine Gael and other democrats on the left. The lack of respect and understanding shown in John Bruton's writings, demonstrate just how difficult it would now be for Fine Gael to provide leadership for the new opposition.
We should listen to the message from the electorate. Last Friday the Irish people told us they wanted a continuation of the right of centre government, but that they also wanted the opposition to be to the left. Next time they may decide to reverse the order.
They also told us that they want their political options to be based on the needs of today and tomorrow, and not on the formations which emerged from the Civil War.
New policies, not old party allegiances will win the next election. Developing the new opposition, therefore, needs to go beyond the parliamentary alliances which may emerge in the Dáil. Labour, in particular, will need to engage more with single issue activism in local communities, and with the concerns of the young.
The coming years in opposition should be used to look afresh at our society and to honestly re-examine issues. Take poverty and inequality. It is painfully clear that traditional interventions are not working. New approaches are needed, which are both radical and realistic.
Responsibility for the construction of a left-of-centre alternative government is not confined to Labour and Fine Gael. If transfer patterns mean anything, then most Green voters see themselves on the left. The environment cannot be detached from economic exploitation and poverty.
Independents too, whose Dáil votes are not required for the survival of a government, will very quickly find that Ministers are not dancing to their tune. People who voted for them this time, may, in future, decide that protest voting is futile, especially if there is an alternative government on offer with whose policies they identify. The independents now also have an opportunity to shape that alternative to their agenda.
Election 2002 may have been a political bloodbath, (and I am saddened by the loss of some outstanding politicians), but the next couple of years could be most exciting and challenging, as we work to build an effective new opposition which can offer real political choice in 2006 or 2007.
Eamon Gilmore is the Labour Party TD-elect for Dún Laoghaire