Bacik says Labour merger with Social Democrats is “possible”

Labour leader Ivana Bacik said that a proposed merger between Labour and the Social Democrats is “possible.”

The Dublin Bay South TD follows claims made by previous party leaders Alan Kelly and Brendan Howlin that further cooperation with the Social Democrats is something of interest to Labour.

In an interview with The Journal before Christmas, Howlin stated that a merger between the two parties “need to be one again.”

Former Labour TD Róisín Shortall notably co-founded the Social Democrats in 2015, while Dublin Bay North TD Cian O’Callaghan started his career in office as a Councillor for Labour before switching his affiliation and ultimately becoming elected as a TD for the Social Democrats in 2020.

Bacik told the Press Association that “there was no difference between Labour and Social Democrats, just as there is no difference between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.”

“Perhaps the call for a merger, maybe, between those two centre-right parties may be the call after the next election.”

She said that “everything is possible in politics,” when asked about the possibility of a merger between Labour and the Social Democrats.

However, the Social Democrats themselves do not appear receptive to the idea.

Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns told Press Association that Labour’s previous stint in Government, where it supported austerity measures such as privatisation of public services and cutting benefits, was a sign that the two parties are not the same.

“Everybody understands that smaller parties have less of an impact on the overall kind of position of a Government. nobody denies that, but when you go into Government, there has to be certain red-line issues for a party.”

Cairns pointed to Labour’s previous stint in coalition, where they enabled the privatisation of Bord Gais, the introduction of HAP (Housing Assistance Payment), and penalising lone parent families.

“It’s all well and good to say, ‘Oh they think they have the same policies as us’ – they don’t have the same practices.  That’s the overall difference between us.”

Cairns asserted that the Social Democrats would behave differently than Labour should they get into Government, and would look to learn from Labour’s mistakes.

“If people say ‘Look, we recognise that there were mistakes made and we’ll learn from those mistakes’ and try to move forward, that’s one thing. Saying ‘we completely stand over every single one of those decisions, we’re just not compatible in terms of our approach. It’s not an approach that we would ever take in Government.”

With polling indicating that a coalition Government will most definitely required following the next general election, the smaller parties such as Labour, Social Democrats and the Green Party have discussed what they would do in Government.

In the case of Labour, Bacik said that the party would call for the ramping up of houses built, repeating her calls from the party conference calling for 1 million houses to be built in 10 years, the Social Democrats stated that a full implementation of Sláintecare would be their red lines for entering into Government, while in recent months Green Party Leader Éamon Ryan said that they would be willing to do business with any party that supported his parties environmental policies.

The burning of a centre earmarked for use by asylum seekers in late December took place in Bacik’s own constituency of Dublin Bay South, and she said that such attacks are “unfortunately, becoming predictable.”

She broadly praised Government’s handling of immigration matters but said that Labour would be more proactive in securing state-owned places for refugees to stay such as barracks or the Baggot Street Hospital.

Bacik stated “we don’t underestimate the scale of the challenge for Government,” but called on An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to make a national address that discusses the benefits of inward migration.

Bacik said that Government should create a new ministerial role specifically in charge of immigration, which is a claim backed up by various Fianna Fáil and Green sources.

She said that Roderic O’Gorman, the Minister for Integration, has been left “isolated” in providing support for refugees and a specific immigration minister was required to help relieve pressure on Government.