Burton expresses confidence in Gilmore’s leadership of Labour Party

Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton has said Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has her support as leader of the Labour Party and added he was doing a "very strong job for Ireland" in his role as Minister for Foreign Affairs.

In her most detailed response to the outcome of the Meath East byelection, in which the Labour vote collapsed, Ms Burton accepted that the party had had recent difficulties.

But its deputy leader, who is sometimes mentioned as a possible successor to Mr Gilmore, said she was confident in his leadership, when asked during a visit to Co Kerry yesterday.

“Eamon Gilmore is very committed to his job as leader of the Labour Party and he has my support and I think he has the support of the parliamentary party in doing his very, very important job,” she said.

Reshuffle

Responding to questions about a reshuffle, Ms Burton said she was happy and privileged in her current role. She said Mr Gilmore was doing a very strong job for Ireland projecting its image abroad.

She said her job in Social Protection was really “at the beating heart of the country”, as getting people back to work was the number one priority of Labour.

"Yes, the Labour Party has had some recent difficulties," she said. "We were disappointed in that we had a good candidate in the byelection, but in byelections – and this happened in Dublin West where the Fine Gael candidate at the time didn't do so well – the vote moves to whoever the likely winner is.

“In this case, Helen McEntee was identified very early on by [the media] and by the general public as being the person to fill the vacancy left by the tragic death of her father.

Back to work

“So as far as the Labour Party is concerned and as far as I’m concerned now, my job is to help this country get back to work, businesses back on their feet, and that’s what I am focusing on.”