When Pat Rabbitte took over from Ruairi Quinn as leader of the Labour party they looked like they were set to become the main opposition party in Ireland. Ruairi had succeeded in building on the platform that Dick Spring had established when he brought Labour into the 20th century, culminating in the “Spring tide” in 1992.
Under Quinn the gap between Fine Gael and Labour was reduced to 10 seats. The gap is now 30. This may well be due to Fine Gael’s resurgence, indeed this is probably the case, but politics can be very unforgiving and failure, even when it is not your fault, rarely goes unpunished.
Under Quinn the gap between Fine Gael and Labour was reduced to 10 seats. The gap is now 30. This may well be due to Fine Gael’s resurgence, indeed this is probably the case, but politics can be very unforgiving and failure, even when it is not your fault, rarely goes unpunished.