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GE2024COMPROMISESTHE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS want to go into government, party leader Holly Cairns said today.
“I don’t know how I can be any clearer. I’m telling you we we want to go into government. Like I said, this feels like this election is the opportunity for the Social Democrats to turn our policies into a reality for communities,” she told reporters in Dublin this afternoon.
Setting out her party’s stall and launching its campaign today, she said the government parties are looking to who might be a future coalition partner.
There has been speculation of late that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael would find the Labour Party palatable.
“I have heard the talk recently, in the last few days about the current government parties are eyeing up their coalition partners and maybe favouring some over others. But I think that they know we would drive a hard bargain.
“I’m glad that they do know that, they’re absolutely right. We would take a different approach to them. We wouldn’t go into government to make up the numbers. We’d go into government to make a difference, and I’m glad that they need to recognise that.
“Now we’re asking people out there to give us the strongest possible mandate to drive that hard bargain,” she said.
Cairns has already previously stated that having a standalone Minister for Disability in the next government would be a red line for her and her party.
Speaking yesterday, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris said continuing and expanding on the Help-to-Buy grant and the First Home Scheme would be a red line for him.
Simon Harris says they won’t go into government with a party that wants to ‘pull the rug’ from under first-time buyers.
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) November 11, 2024
He confirms the Help to Buy and First Home scheme will be expanded if they’re in government again.
Some opposition parties will be interested in that one. pic.twitter.com/agiIGNEU7b
While Cairns said she did not agree that the two schemes are the way to go in the years ahead, she did not categorically state that she could not enter into a government where such schemes would continue.
The Journal asked the Social Democrats leader if she could concede on keeping those two schemes in place if she could get other manifesto items over the line.
She replied that the deal breaker for her party, in terms of housing, would be the delivery of 50,000 affordable purchase homes.
“We know that there’s compromises in negotiations… We want people to know that this is the thing that will be the deal breaker for us,” she said.
The Social Democrats wants the 50,000 affordable purchase homes delivered over the lifetime of the next government, stating that it “is essential” as housing needs a radical reset.
When pushed on the matter and asked if she received a promise that those 50,000 homes would be included in the next programme for government, would that allow the party to accept the two housing support schemes, Cairns said “we don’t know until we go into talks on specifics”.
“We know that there might be compromises,” she said, but added her party does believe the schemes should be phased out over time.
“So it really isn’t the approach that we would take,” said Cairns.
She closed out the press conference by stating that the coalition parties have been “throwing the cash around before an election to try and buy people’s votes”.
“I think people see through that and they’d like a different approach,” she said.
“We’re asking people to please give us a chance, to please, give us your number one vote, and we will do everything you can to fight hard for you,” Cairns said.
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I suspect Johnson may emerge from his vaccine lap ahead, scornfully glancing at the EU, by forcing an early election while branding Labour a bunch of chickens if they initially resist – and then forging ahead with the Tory majority extended from 80 to 100 or so.
And then if there’s a hot Summer of protest up North he’ll play the great statesman by calling for the Northern Ireland protocol to be scrapped or unilaterally scrapping it, in an effort to strategically weaken Ireland’s relationship with the EU, while contently watching whether there’ll be a land border as a result.
I think we might well be in for a few more laughs with this joker.
@Mick Tobin: Am no fan of the yanks but we might need them to put the pressure on the UK re a trade deal if you’re right.
I should perhaps add that Johnson might also want to consider renaming his party the ENP – the English National Party.
@Mick Tobin: it’s unreal how quite Labour are. They really need to kick in with something solid soon.
@Paul Furey: They can’t, there’s absolutely b***** all they can do at the moment. They tried moving to the hard left under Corbyn – seemingly an effort to move away from Blair which already started with Ed Miliband, and that obviously didn’t work.
Now they’re back at the centre and all they can do is wait until the corona crisis is over, and it’s back to the everyday realities including those of Brexit. Then perhaps they have a shot at coming up with a few viable alternatives (such as joining the customs union).
I think for one they need another leader, perhaps Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. In any case I’m afraid it’ll be a long time before they have a serious chance at winning an election.
@Mick Tobin: You are hypothesising my worst fears. He is a deplorable joke of a man with zero integrity, morals. His political and career ambitions trumps anything like an international peace treaty such as the GFA. There will be terrible consequences for the UK but if the terds amplify scenes like week he could have his excuse.
@Gary Garden: In a sense Johnson is simply a representative of the usual confrontational divide-and-conquer style of British politics – albeit a more serious case. But Brexit has made it spill over onto the international stage, with Ireland the first scapegoat to be encountered there.
@Mick Tobin: you had me at ‘joker’… spoiled it with this prejudiced postscript. Shame.
@Paul Furey:
Since Corbyn was shafted there is no opposition, Starmer is Tory light, just like Blair.
Same happened here with Labour becoming FG Light.
No opposition in the UK and only SF as opposition here with PBP, SD and a few others.
Awful Shame everyone has shifted to the Right
@Mick Tobin: an nationalist leader, Ireland would benefit greatly from one
For a small Irish newspaper to infer that the British prime minister is some sort of circus character is a bit rich considering what you have for a government in Ireland.
@Michael Maher: the guardian is not Irish, it started in Manchester & it has become a laughable shadow of its former self.
@Richard Cronin: The Journal took up on it
@Michael Maher: this is journal most of the articles on here are copy & paste jobs from associated press (American). That don’t make it irish, it makes journal a poor news site that is why most people come on here for the comments.
@Richard Cronin: 100%
He is certainly no mug.
@Scott Coulter: he is actually. He’s out of his depth. He wanted the lead role in his school, he got and hadn’t a clue what to do. He wanted the
He is Penny wise and Pound……
A very good read. Unfortunately we have a government who is not performing like Johnson but by their actions, have inadvertently become clowns. Everything they touch at the moment is falling apart. These clowns are not giving us anything to laugh at and the audience are far from happy.
have your say