Labour – raking over the coals

Sir, – It almost defies belief that the Labour Party has embarked on yet another round of navel-gazing in respect of its coalition with Fine Gael between 2011 and 2016 (“Labour Party ‘ran publicity stunts’ and mishandled key policy decisions while in government, secret report finds”, News, June 23rd).

It’s now over 12 years since that government was formed and over seven years since it ended, a veritable eternity in political terms. Most voters would struggle to recall the parties that comprised the last government, let alone the one which preceded it, and yet Labour’s internal apparatus is still consumed with the notion that its role in that government is to blame for voter hostility toward the party.

This obsession with raking over the coals seems to be an attempt to avoid facing up to the real reasons for Labour’s current dire situation, namely the abandonment of its working class support base from the late 1990s onwards; its embrace of faddish niche causes which are promoted by NGOs but of very little interest to voters at large; and its bizarre decision to remove Alan Kelly as leader in March 2022 and retreat further into its south Dublin heartland.

The party should either have the courage to address these serious mistakes, or have the decency to wind itself up and spare the voters any more public hand-wringing about its last experience in government. – Yours, etc,