CONSTITUTION:DELEGATES AT the Labour conference voted by an overwhelming majority at the weekend to accept a party report bringing in a new constitution with new structures for the organisation.
The 34-member National Executive Committee will be replaced by two bodies, a 66-member central council which will have supreme authority between conferences, and an executive board of 15 members for day-to-day management.
Head office will have a greater role in the selection of candidates and union representation at party conferences will in future depend on the number of Labour Party members that they have instead of their overall strength.
Proposing the report, party leader Éamon Gilmore pointed out that the party conference in Wexford in November 2007 had established a 21st-century commission, which had carried out the “deepest and widest” process of consultation with the membership over a 12-month period.
The 20-member commission under the chairmanship of Greg Sparks had issued a report which Mr Gilmore described as “its best assessment of the type of organisation we need going forward”.
Appealing to delegates to endorse the report, he said it was “critically important” to enable the party to grow.
Seconding, Róisín Shortall TD said: “Any organisation that doesn’t change stagnates.” The existing structure was not “fit for purpose”. She said that meeting every Saturday morning, the commission also had the benefit of outside views from journalist Olivia O’Leary, playwright Frank McGuinness and economist Jim O’Leary, among others.
Opposing the motion, party vice-chair Ann Gallagher from Wexford, a former candidate in Cavan–Monaghan, said that the commission was largely composed of people nominated by the party leader.
“The backroom boys wrote this report and the backroom boys are controlling this party,” Ms Gallagher said.
She urged delegates not to hand over power “to the backroom boys and the politburo”.
The report had already been endorsed by the National Executive Committee, but, Ms Gallagher said: “This was rammed down our throats at NEC level.”
Adding that “dictatorships are effective because they are not democratic”, she questioned whether a 66-member central council was going to be workable.
In an emotional speech that brought sustained applause, Willie Penrose TD said that his grandmother was involved on the workers’ side in the great lockout of 1913.
“If she was alive today, she would be voting for this report,” he said.
Describing objections as “theoretical nonsense”, he continued: “Why should we shoot ourselves in the foot when we are on the cusp of greatness?”
Colm Lawless (Dublin South-West) said the report was “undemocratic” and that it sought to introduce a “Blairite” system whereby local conventions which chose particular election candidates could be overruled.
Speaking in favour, Joanna Tuffy TD said that the commission was a “broadly representative” body, which had “generally worked by consensus”.
Members could change any part of the new constitution that was not working.
Pointing out that people were now speaking about the failures of capitalism, Ms Tuffy added: “We are at an historic juncture, we shouldn’t be afraid to grasp that opportunity.”
Brian O’Connor (Dublin South), like other opponents of the report, stressed that this did not also imply opposition to the party leader: “It’s not a case of ‘we vote against this, we vote against Eamon Gilmore’,” he said.
Loraine Mulligan, a delegate from the Dublin South constituency and a member of the commission, spoke in favour of the document which, she said, reinforced “core Labour values”.
Opposing new methods of candidate selection in the report, Roger Cole (Dún Laoghaire) said he was proud party members in his ward had chosen him for the local elections in 2004 and added: “Maybe I would get past an interview board, but who’s going to bet on that?”
Pat Carroll (Dublin West) said the “us and them culture” in the party was gone and delegates should “trust the leadership that you have elected” to implement the report in a proper manner.
Senator Ivana Bacik said the party needed a “more inclusive and diverse membership base” and, although she shared some of the reservations expressed, this report would help achieve that objective.
