Speaking in the Dáil today on the occasion of the election of the new Taoiseach, Joan Burton, Deputy Leader of the Labour Party nominated Eamon Gilmore TD for the position.
“Ceann Comhairle, it is an honour for me to propose Deputy Eamon Gilmore to be Taoiseach. The Taoiseach we nominate today will lead our country in testing times. There will be hard choices to make but also opportunities to seize.
“Since we went though this ceremony last June, tens of thousands have lost their jobs, businesses have closed, the cost of living has risen steeply and the State finances have slipped further into the red. What the country is getting is a Changing of the Guard. What the country needs is a Change of Government.
“So much depends on leadership. Eamon Gilmore can provide that leadership.
A man of, and in touch with, the rural Ireland of his upbringing. A man who has spent his life representing working people and their families. A man known for his commitment to the vulnerable. A man who believes in equality and solidarity as real and realisable political goals.
“Ireland today has a crisis of confidence – in the way our country is run, in the political process, in the power of vested interests. Trust has become a rare commodity. Bravado statements that everything is fine, an election won on deception about the economy, have led to this collapse of confidence.
“Ireland faces a leadership deficit because those about to take charge cannot bring themselves to recognise just how serious the situation is and just how responsible their actions have been to the state we are now in. The result is likely to be a downturn longer and deeper than need be. And the whole country will suffer.
“Brian Cowan has the confidence of his party. Well and good. He will have a fair wind from the country for a while to see if he can get to grips with current problems in a fresh and imaginative way. Frankly I doubt that he can.
“Everything suggests that the people of Ireland will need to look elsewhere for the kind of leadership that can offer honest Government in turbulent times as an alternative to one tied hand and foot, as this one is,to the vested interests of speculators, developers and reckless bankers.
“Time and again Brian Cowan waved away warning messages that flashed as brightly like neon signs. Every time vested interests won the argument over economic prudence. The casual reaction of Mr Cowan to the decline in the public finances is ominous. This was directly under his control.
“He cannot blame the European Central Bank in Frankfurt or the Federal Reserve in Washington. It was his call to steer a correction course. He did not do so and this begs the question the critical question if this Minister for Finance is the person to guide the country as Taoiseach through the more difficult times ahead. We need to go back to basic values that put Ireland and per people first,
need before greed, people before profit.
“I nominate the leader of the Labour Party, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, for Taoiseach because I believe he is the kind of leader who will speak “a new principle for a new age”.
“Eamon Gilmore has a vision for Ireland. He wants to re-establish a strong sense of direction in our national life, of who we are and where we want to go.
“It was Franklin D. Roosevelt who led the US from the Depression by taking the core principles of social democracy on board. Today, it is those same principles that we place to the front and centre of the political agenda by nominating Eamon Gilmore for the post of Taoiseach.”