Left-wing parties and independent socialist TDs should co-operate more closely to form the main opposition to the Government in the Dáil, Sinn Féin claimed today.
The party's Dáil leader Mr Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said Fine Gael was a right-wing party that did not pose a real alternative to the Fianna Fáil / Progressive Democrats' "Thatcherisation of Ireland".
He said the Government had deceived the public in last year's general election and that the better off had benefited disproportionately from Government tax policy.
The crisis in the health service, in particular, highlighted the Government's failings and deceits, Mr Ó Caoláin said.
"There is widespread agreement that these and other promises were acts of deception. What is not so clear to many people is where the alternative can be found.
"The real opposition to such policies is not led by the conservatives of Fine Gael, the so-called leading party in opposition in the Dáil.
"If Fine Gael is the answer it must be a very silly question," Mr Ó Caoláin continued.
"The potential for real and effective opposition resides in the parties of the broad left in the Dáil Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, the Green Party, the Socialist Party and progressive independent deputies. Together they outnumber the Fine Gael deputies."