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Updated 22.43pm
https://vine.co/v/MdiWhKqgzWQ
JOAN BURTON HAS declared her intention to seek the leadership of the Labour Party this afternoon.
The Social Protection Minister made the announcement on the Leinster House plinth where she was flanked by three TDs, two senators, a number of councillors and ordinary party members.
Burton is the current deputy leader of the party and is the first to throw her hat in the ring in the wake of Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore’s announcement on Monday that he will step down once a new leader is in place.
She has been proposed by TD Ann Phelan and her seconder is Deputy Eamonn Moloney.
Both accompanied her today along with deputy Michael Conaghan. Senators Susan O’Keeffe and Ivana Bacik were also there along with several councillors including Mary McCamley, Jane Horgan-Jones and Andrew Montague.
She would not be drawn on exactly how many members of the Oireachtas are supporting her, saying: “I haven’t been doing any kind of counting of people.”
During her announcement, Burton thanked Gilmore for his “unstinting service and commitment” to the party and to Ireland.
She told reporters that the current leader had her full support and that the so-called ‘gang of eight’ (the TDs and senator who signed a motion of no confidence against him) should have approached him first.
However, she noted that last weekend was a “difficult one” for Labour, adding that voters are “unhappy with our performance in government”.
She said: “People are not yet feeling the economic recovery that has just begun – in their personal lives, their families and their communities. Too many people are still hurting six years after the worst economic crash in our country’s history.”
http://vine.co/v/Mdi7gKI9pJK
Burton also insisted that Labour will stay in government, but added that the recovery process has been slower than she would like.
My view is that the limits of austerity have been reached not simply in Ireland but the EU.
Burton said she has a “very good working relationship” with the Taoiseach, but noted: “I tell it as I see it from a Labour Party perspective.”
On the question of her age being a barrier to running, the 65-year-old noted that Hillary Clinton is older than her and considering running for the US presidency. She joked that being US president is easier than being Labour leader.
Other runners
Junior ministers Alex White, Alan Kelly and senior minister Brendan Howlin, who has twice failed in his attempts to win the leadership of the party, are also said to be in contention but have yet to confirm their intentions.
A number of backbench TDs have also said they would consider running including Dominic Hannigan and Arthur Spring.
Several others have said they may contest for the deputy leadership of the party including Ciara Conway and Aodhan Ó Ríordáin.
Nominations for the Labour leadership close next Tuesday at 12 noon.
A postal ballot of the party’s 5,000 members will then be held before the result is announced on 4 July.
Additional reporting by Sinéad O’Carroll
Originally Published 14:35
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If she gets made leader, they still don’t get it….they won’t get it.
I heard somebody sum it all up perfectly yesterday:
Labour have gone for a Burton.
Totally agree Liam, someone should tell the butcher Bruton not to bother, she is not wanted, as a matter a fact the whole labour party is not wanted,
The limit of austerity was reached for Joan when she told us she makes sure to switch off the landing light going to bed. Must be hard on what a minister gets to survive on these days.
It’s clear they have not understood the message, despite saying over and over that they have.
They think they are either:
1. Being punished for hard but right decisions
2. Being punished because people are annoyed that they are not feeling the ‘recovery’
Joan…it’s neither of those, they’re annoyed because you broke your bloody promises, how many times do we have to say it before it will get through? I watched that prime time debate on water charges with great amusement. On the one hand you had the painfully naieve people procharges who think it’s about conserving water (when in reality it’s about a bigger agenda to commodify and privatize everything so we have less and less democratic control over our public services), and on the other you had people playing into the divide and conquer class warfare strategy they set up by removing the flat charge saying ‘but the rest of us will have to pay more per litre’, I mean they’re such eager lemmings playing right into the hands of the people screwing them.
What amused me was that in the midst of this debate nobody bothered to point out that all of that debate is academic because Labour promised not to enter office if they were even on the table…so that made the whole discussion a pointless excercise, they got in on the basis that they would veto charges and privatization, that’s why they were put in.
I can see it now, because of the misunderstandings (which may be intentional..I wonder could they be THAT out of touch in reality or are they just pretending they don’t hear us when they do) they are going to do some token gestures to make people ”feel the recovery”, so we will have a few token tax cuts and clever PR about jobs…and Labour will still crash in 2016.
A new PFG to allign with your 2011 promises, that’s the ONLY thing that will save you.
So this is the part where Burton spouts a load of nonsense about bringing an end to cuts to get the job and then does nothing when she is Labour leader
Depressing isn’t it? That we all know how its gonna play out but must go thru the charade anyway. I was just thinking would things b even a little different if Brian Cowen was still taoiseach? I think they owe him an apology for their vitriol in 2011.. I mean surely they secretly agreed with him all along since they’ve done no different?
What’s sad is they prob do enough mental gymnastics to convince themselves they are different…
I’d say she shuts off the bathroom light when she’s looking in the mirror
If Joan wins the Leadership, Labour is finished, and I am a loyal Labour party member just to be clear. She is part of the front line of the problem that we, as a party, have.
Sickened by the absolute audacity that she has shown by running, basically she has said Eamonn was the issue, time for Joan to wake up and realize that we all know she was front and center when the decisions that lead us here were being made.
Well Said Stephen ( Labour ) just a pity that the ones in Power Don’t Have The Sense to see what the ordinary Labour voter can see is coming if there are not huge changes at the top.
Please keep this SAP away from leading the Labour Party, she is a disgusting liar, a horrible person.Somebody save us please.
Ugh…She is just Gilmore in a skirt.
Thanks for putting that image in my head
Ugh…She is just Gilmore in a skirt…….stands to pee….largely on the disadvantaged
Hey let’s change our image. Let’s appoint the public face of austerity our new Leader.
they really don’t understand……………… i’ve a blog post on it here. http://www.tumblr.com/blog/seanogradywebactivate ………………
……. but sure how could they living as they do!?!?
‘So was produced this tragedy
In a far tower of ivory’
- Allen Tate (1899–1979), U.S. poet, critic. “The Ivory Tower.”
Just seen Joan the butcher Bruton on Rte news, what a two face b*t*h, also to me had nothing g new to add just the normal load of crap,
Ah Austerity… The elephant in the room. The country clearly cannot continue to run deficits yr on yr or borrow money ab-nauseum. I’m not sure what planet Joan is living on.
Joan…the limits of austerity were reached when the first poor tormented soul was hounded into their grave by banks because of not being able to pay their mortgage while your government sat back and did fanny Adams about it…
The limits of austerity are verbalised ,,when she wants to further her career,,, is there not end to there self serving
Michael McNamara should go for leadership. At least he stood up to them on a few occasions
I can’t think of a single act that Labour could commit which would more blatantly say “We are not listening to the people of Connolly” than for Joan Burton to be elected leader.
Very wise move Gilmore. His decision stalls the anger of the people. But Labour are finished anyway. Burton has been a disgrace. You are not fooling the electorate you pack of liars!
On 18th April 2012 she stood up in Dail and said she would not make cuts / reform to lone parents unless she had a “credible and bankable commtment to a Scandinavian style child care system”. There was no new child care yet the ‘reforms’ went ahead. Last week I found out, she amde no allowance for lone parents with disabled children, they will lose 27% of weekly income when their child turns 7. And just in case any of us succeed in finding a job that will actually pay enough to pay for child care. she excluded lone parents from Jobs Plus. Jobs Plus awards employers between €7.5k – €10k for employing a long term unemploed person, well except a lone parent. What employer will employ a lone parent, with children over a person with no children and who comes with a hefty grant. I don’t know what lone parents ever did to Burton. but I hope lone parents will remeber Labour for this if they choose to elect Burton as Labour. She represents all that has been wrong with Labours broken promises and lies.
Are you talking about genuine lone parents or the 85 to 90 percent of “lone parents” that are actually co-habiting without declaring so to the DSP?
Prejudiced much?
How cute is Gilmore.
Somebody else at the wheel when the ship sinks.
Labour’s ship has been sinking ever since the moment they went into government.
Sounds familiar. He’s obviously taken a leaf from Bertie’s book.
I’m glad they went into government rather than let FF get back in. That’s what would have been the result had they not gone into government. It would have been a complete disgrace for FF to do what they did to the country, to be trounced by the electorate, and then be handed back the keys to the office.
I’m not happy with the performance of Labour; they’ve been too easily pushed around by FG, but I hold out some hope that they are listening to the electorate and that this is the start of it. They’ve less than 2 years to get their act together so it’s time to get the finger out now.
Ignore..we DO have ff in govt basically..they just continued their policies. Fg would have went in with India or ff if labor refused and could have come back next time as the main party with sf and ff and given Ireland its first social democratic govt..instead we got ff- lite.
I disagree. The FF Green government had absolutely ZERO mandate to implement the austerity policies that they did seeing as none of it was in their manifesto. Secondly, having FF telling us to take our medicine when they were the ones to inflict the damage on us was too much.
U miss my point. These guys have no mandate for it either its not what they ran on. They just continued ffpolicy. You can’t hate ff policy on austerity n love fgs or vice versa cos its the same policy
They do have a mandate. if you read both their manifestos they both claim to abide by the targets set by the EU/IMF, i.e. austerity.
Secondly, I don’t hate FF for austerity. I hate them for mismanaging the economy to leave it in a situation where we had to resort to austerity and take a bailout. I hate them for their populism and hypocrisy. And most of all I hate them for the corruption that can be seen in the Mahon Tribunal report, in Bertie, and in Haughey amongst others.
Gilmore is smart…
He’s sees the iceberg ahead so he’s jumping off the Labour titanic before it capsizes..
Horrible vile woman, wouldn’t you just love to see her doing some jobridge “job” and 9 months later back on the scrapheap, I wonder what her opinion would be then of course this scambridge
Up there with Phil Hogan as the most detested politican.
All she seemed to have cared about is to facilitate and legalize exploitation (jobbridge) and hound welfare fraudsters (which is a gardai’s job)
Gilmore has resigned and Burton thinks that his head will be enough to appease dissatisfied voters with regard to Labours performance in coalition.
The truth that they cannot see is that Rabbitte summed up their attitude to election promises and they think that “given time” they will be able to perform a miraculous recovery.
In the meantime, we await the consequences of:
ECB bank stress tests.
OECD agreement on corporation tax rates.
Energy price increases (as the Ukraine erupts into civil war).
A house price bubble in the Dublin.
NAMA scandals.
A realisation that we cannot afford to maintain payments on Prom Night bonds.
Water charges introduced as LPT falls due.
And a host of scandals relating to Shatter and Reilly…
It’s time to wake up, Joan. This coalition has not shown that it is capable of dealing with the shocks that the program for Government has largely ignored. You have a pension, can we please have our country back?
Best picture to illustrate a story ever , whens Enda going ?
All new faces and a freshness of policy and approach.
Labour has to fresh start in the next few weeks, all new faces.
Joan is not that fresh start, she missed her chance. Tough, life is not fair.
I know that doing this approach will give Labour a fighting chance, why suggest it.
Labour are too fuddy duddy at this stageto actually move on that much.
Just slapping a new coat of paint on the house while the whole building crumbles behind it.
They know Joan won’t save them, deep down they do but still they will do it.
seanie any chance any of you guys in FF know what happened the night of the blanket guarantee to the banks ,this was the night when the biggest act of treason was ever brought upon the irish people .
It’s sad that your party still has a leader from the old guard and gets so many votes. Baffling.
They are the Truest Words I have heard spoken for a long long time. Yet we have morons who have just voted for them again. How stupid Is stupid is it any wonder we are known as thick Paddys .
It’s strange to hear an FFer preach to the Labour party about fresh faces when its front bench consists of Michéal Martin, Éamon Ó Cúiv, and WIllie O’Dea – all former government ministers. Am I missing anybody?
Labour’s predicament, and political poverty, couldn’t be better illustrated, than by the pathetic alternatives suggested as successor to Gilmore. Bankrupt in ideas, talent, and principles. Time to fold the tent before it collapses!
Same soup just a different label !!!
Same rose, different fertiliser!
She looks like Eamons dropped one.
Sounds painful.
Economic recovery my ass.. Look at what John Bruton said in the indo today! Lying parasites.
So we Have reached the limits Have we, Have we reached the limits of labour lies,like the lies gilmore told in mullingar barracks in 2009 ,watch this clip :Labour leader supports mullingar’s Columb Barracks: http://youtu.be/YA6nhGFHzls
I’m delighted for her !
Just the final nail in the demise of The Labour Party. !
It also guarantees from her bull and banter that a General Election is only a very short time away now and it won’t be just the hair colour that will be washed out of this Lady Joan , but what’s left of her wishy washy Party of wasters too !
Different sex same damaging policies for Irish citizens so much for change and renewal….
God help the whole lot of us if it’s her
At least she’d vacate the social protection slot…
Hope you have a calendar to mark the days off cause even if you are labour leader you are gone in the next election Joan na na na na hey hey hey goodbye.Her first job as labour leader is to make sure she has a big fat pension for when she’s gone.The big pot of gold only they see at the end of the tunnel.
Labour are finished rabbit and the rest of them gob shits should have gone with him total clear out pity it was not a general election and wipe that smirk of hogans face
Ding Dong the witch is still alive!
Marie Antoinette is well and alive !!
*breaks out the video of Mario Rosinstock’s Joan Burton singing ‘Wrecking Ball**
Brill love it
It seems to have slipped Joans mind that she her party the FF party and FG party fooled the people into passing the Fiscal Treaty, remember ” vote yes to fiscal treaty and we will have access to ESM ” now 2 years on no access to ESM but the treaty was passed and the austerity will continue …or maybe Joan does remember but yet again the people are being stringed along..shur isnt that what you do before elections ( Pat Rabbitte )
Ohhhhh they make me sick…
Now while they have come around to my way of thinking , I find myself wondering where do they get off telling the Largest party in Government , that while they totally agreed with the approach 2 weeks ago, now that has to change as I want to get relected ….
I thought it was all about stability and all about whats best for the country …
Its so familar to the Greens behavour from the last government , almost blow by blow
I think all parties should clear out the pre bust politicians. People like Joan Burton, Michael Martin and Enda Kenny are there as long as the fixtures in the parliament clearly offer no solutions or ideas on how to fix this country. This government has created no real jobs, created new taxes and have made it hard for the youth to get educated, upskill and get jobs in certain sectors. Bring in young back-benchers that represent the youth i.e the people that will pay for austerity for the next 30-40 years.
If the best they can do is Jobbridge to battle they can do be ready Ireland for another two years minimum of the same stagnant country with no vitality and same old Labour and Fine Gael policies….
Ugh
Alleluia, we are saved, let joy be unconfined. :-(
“Can I just saay”
No
They just seen to be too Thick to understand that unless there are huge changes and new faces they will ensure that Labour are going to be Extinct just like the PDs or at least will be decimated just like the green were. All the usual faces of Labour have to go there are no Ifs Ands or Buts that is the only way that Labour Have a slight chance of surviving at the next General Election.
Totally true James…they are NOT listening to the people who are demanding a total change of the old guard. If she becomes leader labour have just signed their death warrant. Such total arrogance and selfishness is quite revolting …
Imagine listening to her voice now all the time. FG and Labour are only on borrowed time. We Want a General Election Now.
Bullshit! She and Gilmore are alike. She should resign as well. But maybe there are not enough high paying alternatives to include her at the moment? These Labour careerist bums make me sick! Screw the working class and retire on huge pensions. Labour my ass!!
If Joan Burton wins the labour leadership the party is FINISHED IN IRELAND.
And its thanks to Joanies enthusiastic pushing of the austerity agenda that we found out what the limits of austerity were.
maybe she should keep her powder dry and see if theres a chance to get a crack at the Fine Gael Leadership instead, god knows shes closer to that lot in her outlook
And so the bean sí wails, thus the haranguing and ganging shall begin in earnest…..apparently White has already gone a shade greyer!!
FFS how is this (assuming she is to become the new leader) a change in the party’s outlook and leadership style when she is at the centre of all that is rotten in the labour ranks!!
Rock and and elect her,it will result in this sham of a gov falling by the new year,will force a GE and we can finally see the back of these self serving trough snorting fu&kwits!
Joan…….the people have spoken and STILL you and your delusional cohorts aren’t listening!!!!
I was watching the Labour MEP Costello on VinB last night. Stammering, stuttering, shaking, eyes darting around like a trapped rat. Then I looked up how much she was compensated each month for her MEP position–40,000/month. Half a million smackers a year salary and expenses.
Holy Fecking Christmas. Why they’re all not hanging from lamp posts is beyond me. That is utterly indefensible.
While I’m not defending it in the least, an MEP’s salary is €8,000/month. Where did you get the 40K from? I suppose there are a lot of expenses to be milked…
Phrase “difficult to run numerous houses on commissioners salary” springs to mind
Off to political waste lands like the greens big waste of space in dail government but others ff fg should follow too all incompetent liers waste of space parties
Labour aren’t going to change politics!electing someone out of date!they need a younger ,fresher person with new ideas!
Labour deceived the electorate.
Retire with big pensions!
When are people going to protest for a general election as soon as possible? Would “General Elections Now” not be a broad enough banner for lots of groups to unite under? Pick a Saturday, spread the word, hire 100 buses from different spots around the country, 50-60 people in each. Add that on to the Dublin residents who don’t need to be bussed up to protest outside Leinster House. A protest for all parties and none, about 10,000 people, and hopefully more. I know Irish people don’t like protest but someone needs to make them like it and take the organisation upon themselves.
Well that,s the end of labour.
Oh please let Joan win ….. Water chargers property tax will be worth it …. If only to watch Enda looking down his nose at Joan it will all be worthwhile …..keep going Joan give Enda the headache he needs and watch Labour top the pole in the general election if Joan is leader
@ Mary Gimes you can’t honestly believe that. She chose to bring in Jobsbridge, cut dole for those under 26 and cut paymens for working lone parents. She is the most arrogant and right wing of the government. Her policies were the most disappointing for a Labour Minister and it is she who represents so much of what is wrong with Labour in Government. Labour are on their knee, If Labour membership elect her, they will have very little hope of recovery. We need fresh faces who have not become so embedded in the Fine Gael ideology.
“watch Labour top the pole in the general election if Joan is leader”
Ha ha thanks Mary, that gave me a great laugh :-)
Stop trolling Mary….. The woman’s obnoxious….
She’s trolling but Joan has managed to keep the social budget at a very generous level for a bust country
She found the pot of gold!. Let’s at least give her a medal.
Its not generous if you take our cost of living into account.
Well Joan if you can grow some balls and reverse this water charge nonsense then you MIGHT not lose all your seats at the next GE!
She’s a Bankers Buddy. She has no desire to upset her friends. They will look after her just like Brian Cowen is being looked after.
The Irish will suffer just like we always have. We’re pretty used to it now and we do it with a brave face and/or drink to forget. It’s in our genes :(
We’ll be thrown some scraps to keep us happy though so make sure you and your family are at the front of the crowd.
Gilmore in drag .
Same story.
Different frock.
if she is elected leader the labour backbenchers will cross the floor fn bifch is worst than merkel
If Labour elect Joan as leader it will just show they have learned nothing from the local and euro elections
Joan is part off the problem not cure.
Labour will face total wipeout in 2016 if they last that long.
And in 2016 we both know in the back of our minds what’ll probably happen.
Fine Gael will soften the electorate as much as possible pre GE.
DO’B media will go into overdrive to pacify us and demonise his enemies.
Fianna Fail will get all their old voters back.
They merge and then that’s curtains my friend.
The new face of Labour
Joan Tatcher .
There very very stupid if they dont realise that the people hate her just as much as they hate gilmore the two useless f___s.
The local authority election results did not demand that one withered and wrinkled geriatric would replace another as Leader of the Labour Party. If none of the under fifty cohort can make a compelling case to become Leader, Labour better look for a parking space next to Aontacht Eireann, the Prpgressive Democrats and the myriad of other corpses that litter Irish political history.
Only those that left the Labour Group on principle have the right to call themselves Labour.
The gang in power now who call themselves Labour are a Banker Austerity Group. Not one of them has our interests at heart.
They all must go.
Same soup different label !!
what the Labour Party sows….the Labour Party shall reap….hopefully we will never hear of them again
How is upto ant different to Gilmorton , as a labour party there a joke a bunch of elitist snobs , even the likes of Alan Kelly worry me as to how these people are elected
Sounds like Joan found that pot of gold Enda was telling us about a few days ago.
Does this mean I have to love Labour to bits now and vote for them in 2016?
Joan Burton is a snob who doesn’t know or care how people are suffering.Her God is to grab on to power.Like all her mates in Labour she too has distance herself from what Labour use to stand for.I honestly believe they no longer have a role in Irish politics
If Joan Burton had ANY love for her party….she would step aside
If Joan Burton had ANY love for her Country….she would step aside
But she wont , she WANTS the power , the pay packet , and the pension , the three P’s , Shame on YOU and anybody from the old boy brigade that takes the leadership job , give someone young a chance !!!!!
Oh, I hope she doesn’t go all “Kate Middleton” on us and alight her helicopter in a floaty dress. That image would be burned into my eyes forever. Not good.
Her voice , am I the only one who wants to tear off ears to stop that voice ,
Joan the limits of austerity were reached years ago, have you only woken up to this fact now??? And another thing why do politicians have to have a bunch of moronic lemons stand behind them whend they are waffling on ? Can they not stand alone? Looks so stupid and contrived!
She will need a good face surgeon to fix the cracks
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