Party policies the price for Labour coalition

The price for the participation of the Labour Party in a coalition Government with "whoever" will be the implementation of many of the party’s polices.

Speaking on RTÉ's This Weekprogramme, Labour Party leader Mr Ruairí Quinn was critical of Fianna Fáil's failure to "do the things that need to be done and implement the polices that should be".

Mr Quinn gave five guarantees in his address at the Labour Party conference in Cork City Hall last night, including reform of the health service, free childcare and extra funding for education.

Accepting that a Sunday Independent/IMS opinion poll showed unprecedented support for the Taoiseach Mr Ahern, Mr Quinn said this had not translated into votes for Fianna Fáil during recent by-elections. The true poll, he said, would be the general election.

Mr Quinn also condemned the murder of journalist Mr Martin O’Hagan, saying this was an indication of what happens when politics fails.

"When politics fail, civic society gets into a "dark corridor" where violence can predominate and we are dependent on people like Martin O’Hagan to take the lid off the wrong doings of people like the loyalist organisations which clearly were responsible for this murder", said Mr Quinn.

Mr Quinn said that despite the economic downturn in the US resources exist to implement a range of social reforms, especially in the health service.

"This country has the resources to transform itself and to create an egalitarian society with a decent health service. The question remains do we have the political will to do it?"

Delegates at the conference passed an emergency motion condemning the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington with the caveat that Irish facilities be used only in multilateral operations with UN approval.