New new Labour…

…according to the Irish Times.

Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said that Labour will enter negotiations with Fine Gael for what he described as a substantial “renewal of purpose” for government for the remainder of its term.

So…here’s the key question…

Mr Gilmore was asked whether his party would now seek to renegotiate the Programme for Government.

For was it not the Green Party who somewhere past midway in their coalition with FF who did that. For all the good it did them. The answer being:

…no but [he] added there was now an onus on Government to address in a very focused way the problems people are facing today.

And here’s a gem – and let’s just note we’re days away from a local and European election that would appear to offer significant attrition of LP council seats across the state:

Asked would the “renewal” involved sitting down and negotiating some kind of formal agreement with Fine Gael, he replied: “It always involves discussion with our coalition partners but I think what we have to do is look at the problems facing people today.”

Oh well… that’s going to change everything, isn’t it?