Pat Rabbitte
Pat Rabbitte (born
May 18,
1949) is a senior
Irish politician, who has been the leader of the
Labour Party since 2002. He has been a
Teachta Dála for
Dublin South West since 1989 and is also the Labour Party spokesperson on
Northern Ireland.
Pat Rabbitte was born in
Claremorris,
County Mayo in 1949. He was educated locally at St. Colman's College, Claremorris before emigrating to
Britain to find employment. He returned shortly afterwards to attend
University College Galway. While at university Rabbitte became involved in several college movements before serving as President of the Students' Union in
1970. Between
1972 and
1974 he achieved national attention when he served as President of the national
Union of Students in Ireland (USI). Following the completion of his presidency in
1974 he became an official in the
Irish Transport and General Workers Union (ITGWU), becoming National Secretary for the union in
1980.
Rabbitte became involved in politics for the first time in
1985 when he was elected to
Dublin County Council. In
1989 he was elected to
Dáil Éireann as a
Workers' Party TD for
Dublin South West. He has retained his seat at every election since as a
Workers' Party, then
Democratic Left and now
Labour Party deputy.
After the retirement as Party President of the Workers' Party by Tomás MacGiolla in 1988 Rabbitte was seen as one of those who wanted to move the party away from its hard-left position and alignment with the Soviet Union and international communist and workers' parties. He and others who had come from the USI via the trade union movement were seen by the left as wanting to bring the party to the right, so Rabbitte,
Eamon Gilmore and others earned the nickname "The Student Princes". In 1992 he played a prominent role with
Proinsias de Rossa in an attempt to jettison the left and eventually split the party.
[see "Patterns of Betrayal, the flight from Socialism, Repsol, Dublin 1992.]In
1994 a new Rainbow Coalition government of
Fine Gael, the
Labour Party and
Democratic Left came to power. Rabbitte was a member of the junior ministerial team, serving as
Minister of State to the Government, as well as Minister for State at the
Department of Enterprise and Employment with responsibility for Commerce, Science & Technology. During his tenure as a junior minister Rabbitte was instrumental in establishing an anti-drugs strategy as well as enacting legislation which gave the
Credit Union movement more authority.
Following the
1997 general election the Rainbow Coalition lost power. The following year saw a merger between the
Labour Party and
Democratic Left, with Rabbitte participated in the tentative negotiations. In October
2002 Rabbitte succeeded
Ruairi Quinn as the new leader of the Labour Party. Under his leadership the party has made some gains in the local elections of
2004. Rabbitte has been described as an extremely good performer in the Dáil, often outshining his
Fine Gael counterpart
Enda Kenny. He is also noted for his anti-
Fianna Fáil rhetoric.
Under Rabbitte the Labour Party has agreed to enter a pre-election pact with
Fine Gael in an attempt to offer the electorate an alternative coalition government at the
next general election, expected to take place in
2007. The
Green Party are also expected to be likely members of the coalition government should their support be needed. This move is rumoured to have caused some tension in the parliamentary party as some members would prefer a coalition with
Fianna Fáil. Should the alternative coalition come to power it is expected that Rabbitte will be appointed
Tánaiste and become a minister in a senior department, possibly Finance.
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Pat Rabbitte's website
