BAILOUT PLAN:A LABOUR government would not unilaterally tear up the EU-IMF deal, the party's spokesman on education, Ruairí Quinn has said.
Admitting some parts of the bailout package were non-negotiable, Mr Quinn said there were other elements that could be changed and a government with new personalities and a new mandate could bring this to the table in Brussels after the election.
“We are not saying that unilaterally we are going back to tear up the deal because some parts of the deal are non negotiable,” said Mr Quinn at a press conference yesterday at Labour Party headquarters.
His comments follow a statement from Labour leader Eamon Gilmore that the public had a choice between “Frankfurt’s way or Labour’s way”.
Asked about Mr Gilmore’s strident comment, Mr Quinn said this type of rhetoric was “part and parcel of an election campaign”.
But he said some changes were possible in the EU-IMF deal.
“We have to relook at a deal that we said on the very night that it was negotiated it was a bad deal,” said Mr Quinn.
He said Ireland’s EU partners would respect moves to renegotiate the deal because of the country’s long-term, positive engagement with the union.
In Tralee yesterday, Mr Gilmore said the election was “a vote” on the deal and insisted it had to be renegotiated.
He also dismissed comments by European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet on Thursday that the current plan would have to be applied.
“Mr Trichet is . . . a very important European civil servant and any civil servant will . . . always stick to the plan that is there at the moment – just as he will stick to the plan that is renegotiated when it is renegotiated,” he said.