Commenting on the resignation of the party leader, Labour Youth Chairperson and Labour Party Executive Board member Ciaran Garrett said, “Eamon Gilmore has taken the honourable and right decision in stepping down as party leader. We would like to express our gratitude to him for his years of work in the party and in the labour movement as a whole.

The election of a new party leader gives us the chance to take a new direction as a party. However, it is only a chance. We must be careful not to throw away this opportunity to look at the kind of party we want to be and where we want to stand in Irish society.

It may be tempting to view this crisis in public support as simply an issue of personalities. But the truth that there is a huge disconnect between what Labour was elected to do and what we are doing in government. We have broken core election promises and implemented some devastating hardships on the very people we said we would protect. To our shame, we have done little to address the glaring inequalities in Irish society.

It is critical the Labour Party immediately reevaluates the disastrous policies that have brought us to this position. Last December, when Ireland exited the bailout Labour Youth launched a campaign pushing for measures which could act as stepping stones to a more socially just society and economy.

Labour needs to establish a truly independent identity in government. Labour needs to be at the forefront in campaigning for a living wage, the end of zero hour contracts and a badly needed wealth tax. Labour needs to tackle the housing crisis, confront rising rents and build urgently needed social housing. Labour needs to be championing proper universal healthcare. Labour needs not just to talk about why we need full employment, but how we are going to achieve full employment through a real public investment programme. Labour needs to stop using the language of tax cuts and tart speaking about reversing the worst of the cuts to respite carers, child benefit, lone parent allowance, youth unemployment benefit and disability support.

Since being in government the Labour Party has had an increasingly arrogant approach to the public, seeking to convince rather than listen and accept the need for radical change in the way we do politics and policy.

The large vote for independents in the elections shows that people are growing disillusioned with the hierarchical and conformist manner in which political parties such as the Labour Party are run. The Labour Party’s policies should not be decided and imposed on the rest of the party by a small group around the leadership with short-term publicity in mind. The party needs to become an open and honest organisation where genuine participation and contributions by grassroots, unions and NGOs are not only welcome but central to the party’s approach to politics.

Now more than ever the core values of the labour movement are needed to construct a fairer, stronger, more sustainable Ireland from the ashes of austerity. Labour must begin to deliver on these values if it is to avoid electoral annihilation in 2016.”

Ciaran Garrett, Labour Youth Chairperson & Executive Board Member, 0857443043