Pat Rabbitte
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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. Template:References
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Early life
Pat Rabbitte was born in Claremorris, County Mayo in 1949. He was educated locally at St. Colman's College, Claremorris before emigrating to Britainto 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. 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.
In government
In 1994 a new Rainbow Coalition government of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left came to power. Rabbitte was a key 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.
Labour Party leader
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 playing a key role 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.
Political career
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