Labour has accused Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern of showing signs of "political promiscuity" after he suggested Labour should not rule out coalescing with Fianna Fáil after the next general election.
Mr Ahern told TV3's The Political Party programme yesterday that he had "always regarded Labour and Fianna Fáil being politically reasonably close".
In relation to Labour leader Pat Rabbitte's position that the party should rule out coalescing with Fianna Fáil after the next election, he said: "I don't agree with him in relation to his attitude about coalition with my party but that's for him, he's made that decision. I disagree with it fundamentally."
A Labour Party spokesman said yesterday that Mr Ahern was showing "a touch of political promiscuity". "Two months ago Dermot Ahern was holding out the hand of friendship to Sinn Féin.
Fianna Fáil seem to have concluded that themselves and the Progressive Democrats won't have the numbers after the next election and they are desperately shopping around for a party that will keep them in government."
He said Mr Rabbitte had set out his view that he did not see any circumstances in which Labour would go into government with Fianna Fáil after the next election.
He said the final decision was a matter for the Labour Party, and that a motion from the party's national executive was likely to be put before the party conference at the end of May.
"Pat's view is that there needs to be a motion on electoral strategy," the spokesman said.
However, it is not yet known whether this motion will seek to endorse the specific strategy favoured by Mr Rabbitte of forming a pre-election alliance with Fine Gael, or whether it will simply offer a more general endorsement of the party leader's approach.
Any such motion must be submitted by mid-April.