Speech by Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD – Labour Party Conference 2025

Comrades and friends.

Go raibh maith agat Conor.

Tá áthas mór orm bheith anseo.

It’s good to be back in Limerick.

And what a rousing introduction from our great new local TD- Conor Sheehan.

Thank you, Conor, for the kind words.

Thanks to all here tonight.

Special welcome to our many new members!

Thanks also to all of you watching at home.

Particular thanks to those watching who voted Labour in the Local, European and General Elections last year.

We greatly value your support.

With that support, a Labour MEP was elected for the first time in a decade – Aodhán Ó Riordáin.

And we now have eleven TDs, two new Senators and 55 great Councillors around the country.

Friends, Our party is growing.

We have momentum.

And that matters.

Because our Labour values – of equality, solidarity and fairness – are needed now, more than ever.

As the politics of Hate, the politics of the Far Right, threaten and intimidate our communities, we need to Stand Firm.

Conference, we need Change and we need Hope.

In last year’s elections, we articulated our Labour vision for change and for hope.

Our election results showed the appetite for that vision.

Just last month, we saw the election of a new President who shares our vision for Change – and whose landslide victory has given us all Hope.

Comrades, the Labour Party were proud to support Catherine Connolly.

Our wonderful new Uachtarán na hÉireann.

Catherine will build on the legacy of Mary Robinson and Michael D Higgins, our dear friend – and an inspiring President for the past fourteen years.

Go raibh maith agat, Michael D – for your outstanding service.

Friends,

Apart from winning the presidency, Catherine’s campaign had another tremendous achievement.

It brought together the parties of the Left – and other parties too.

It united many of us who, for far too long, had focused on our differences, not our common cause.

With Catherine’s campaign, we have shown that an alternative politics – an alternative Ireland – is possible, when we unite together.

An end to the politics of the past, represented by Fianna Fail, Fine Gael – and the Lowry Lackeys.

Catherine’s win offers real Hope for the future.

And, friends, hope is badly needed.

All of us can feel that need for hope.

Communities feeling the reality of the Housing Crisis.

The impact of the Cost of Living Crisis.

When you have less money in the bank at the end of each week, each month.

Bills are rising.

Grocery bills, energy bills, insurance, rent, mortgage costs –all rising at a rate that vastly outpaces take home pay.

● Thousands of hard-working families, driven into enormous debt.

● Another generation of young adults yet again facing Emigration.

● And thousands of children homeless.

This Government of Failure has no answers.

This conservative coalition, cobbled together in three parts.

Two civil war enemies uneasily united, relics of a bygone era.

And the third leg, made up of the so-called Independents.

What to say about them?

They are also uneasily united – by someone who truly represents the ghost of Christmas past – Michael Lowry.

Friends, the politics of the past cannot offer hope to hard pressed households.

What did this Government do in the October Budget?

They rewarded Burger Barons and Big Builders.

Reckless tax cuts; massive giveaways to corporate chains.

Nothing for working families.

And that’s why we need an Alternative politics.

A programme for real Change.

To deliver the massive public investment needed.

To improve lives, and support livelihoods.

That’s the core message of our socialist and social democratic politics.

And over many decades, we have achieved real change, social and economic.

The Labour Party has made a significant contribution to the development of our State.

We have never taken the easy option of just shouting from the sidelines.

We have stepped up, at times of huge challenge, to serve our country.

And, for this, friends, we should stand proud.

Because we represent the Constructive Left.

Our strong Labour mission is for an Active State.

A State that:

Can provide for those in need.

Can build homes, end poverty, and address the cost-of-living crisis.

A State that provides public services that leave no one behind, regardless of class, gender, ethnicity or disability.

A State that takes climate action measures – to secure a future for our children and grandchildren.

That harnesses new technologies to guarantee decency and respect for all workers.

Housing, Care, Climate and Work.

That’s our Labour vision.

For Building Better Together.

Over the coming Dáil term, we have key priorities.

As proud Europeans, we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, as they endure Russia’s brutal war.

And we stand with the people of Palestine – as we have always done.

We must have a lasting ceasefire.

An end to Israel’s genocide on Gaza.

We must pass the Occupied Territories Bill – on trade in goods and, crucially, in services.

Tánaiste, I am calling on you to get the bill passed – in full –by Christmas!

Here at home, the number one priority is Housing.

The housing disaster is the civil rights issue of this generation.

It affects every community, and every generation.

Like the father who broke down in tears with me on election day last November.

Having already had one son emigrate, his second son was leaving for Australia that very day.

This Government has no answers for him.

No hope for his sons – those locked out of home ownership.

Just an open door for speculators and land hoarders.

As we saw from this week’s repackaged Government Housing Plan.

Just old milk in new bottles.

A so-called plan – really an Admission of Failure.

By abandoning annual targets, by telling young people to ‘hang in there’, we get the message – this Government has run out of ideas.

And worse, friends, they have normalised the eviction of children.

Five Thousand Homeless Children is a national disgrace.

By contrast, the Labour Party believes that a Home is a right – not a privilege.

We have clear, costed and constructive policies on Housing.

We will:

● Tackle the scourge of vacancy and dereliction.

● Protect renters.

● Regulate short term lettings.

● And transform the Land Development Agency into a State construction company.

Because only the State has the power to build homes at the scale we need.

Just as we have red lines on Housing, the Labour Party also have red lines on Climate.

Because we believe in Science.

And unlike other parties, we take seriously the existential threat of the Climate Emergency.

In our Alternative Budget, we put forward radical proposals to deliver on public transport, on cycling and active travel, biodiversity and renewables.

To ensure energy supports for the hundreds of thousands of households in arrears now with electricity bills.

So many people watching tonight – impacted by the Cost of Living crisis.

And we offer you solutions.

To reduce childcare costs for struggling families.

To achieve a universal childcare and early years system.

To ensure provision of decent services for disabled people and for carers.

And to realise the rights of disabled adults and children – at every stage in life.

Because we in Labour take disability rights seriously.

In the home and in the workplace.

As the Party of the trade union movement, we would end Low Pay and bogus self-employment.

Introduce workplace leave where women suffer miscarriage in early pregnancy.

And create a statutory right to organise at work.

Because United we Stand. Divided we Beg.

We won’t stop there.

Labour stand for real change on health care, on education and on criminal justice.

The decriminalisation of people who use drugs.

A real commitment to penal reform.

No more prison deaths.

Greater numbers of Community Gardai.

Safer streets and public spaces.

Decent Healthcare for all.

Friends, we need an end to the two-tier health system; the roll out of Sláintecare.

We recognise that we must improve healthcare for Trans people.

And we recognise, too, that School places must be guaranteed for All children – whatever their needs.

That education must be free – at All levels.

And that in our schools, Church and State must be truly separate.

Friends, for many years, Labour has driven constitutionalchange for a progressive society.

On divorce, on marriage equality, on abortion rights.

Now, we need further constitutional change – to protect the Triple Lock and secure Ireland’s neutrality.

And I want to pay tribute to our courageous Defence Forces.

Their service in the Blue Berets of the United Nations has given Ireland a proud international reputation in peacekeeping – in active neutrality.

Friends, to deliver on our Labour programme for change, we need a strong, sustainable economy.

And the Labour Party has a strong record on job creation.

In supporting investment and enterprise.

We’ve a track record of delivering growth.

And not just for the sake of a budget surplus.

Rather, to achieve equality.

At every opportunity over this Dáil term, the Labour Party will put forward positive policies for change.

And we will build towards our crucial goal – to deliver a Left-Led Government after the next General Election.

It’s ambitious, of course – just like believing the Irish football team could beat Portugal Two-Nil!

Of course, friends, there is one electoral contest facing usearly next year.

A By-Election in Galway West.

And we are fortunate to have such strong Labour representation in that constituency.

Our great Councillors Niall McNelis, John McDonagh and Helen Ogbu.

To be clear: Labour will be contesting the By-Election.

Campaigning on our vision for change.

Of course, it will take place at a very challenging time.

With ongoing uncertainty due to Trump’s Tariffs and his Trade Tantrums.

Following a winter of rising bills, and stagnating wages.

So, it’s vitally important that we put forward a strong case for greater security.

For others, security just means military strength.

For us, it means something more profound.

When we speak about security, we mean secure homes.

Secure families and communities.

Basic financial security for households.

Labour can offer that security.

The security of an active state.

A State that provides a safety net in social protection, healthcare, childcare and education.

The security of a decent pension, of proper civic amenities.

Ultimately, friends, the security of a good life.

That’s what security really means.

And that’s what we offer.

Not just the politics from opposition of protests and marches –important as those are to us, as activists.

But also the politics of wages and bills.

Of enough money in your pocket at the end of the month.

This practical and progressive Centre-Left politics is winning through with communities – here, and internationally.

As we’ve just seen in New York – with the election of Mayor Mamdani!

And closer to home too.

We’ve seen it in Spain, with security delivered through Labour politics.

Spanish household energy bills have fallen, while housing and public services are delivered at scale.

And Labour, through the Party of European Socialists, are working with our EU allies – on Housing, Climate and our vision for a Social Europe.

As Ireland takes the EU presidency next July, Labour willhost a gathering here of European Socialist leaders.

Leaders who’ve shown that Socialists can deliver in Government – and can achieve change for communities.

Friends, we must work across Europe to resolve the Housing crisis.

With a Common Housing Policy – to relax State Aid rules.

And build affordable homes at the scale so badly needed –here in Ireland and throughout Europe.

And we must work together across Europe on Climate too.

Because we understand that the economic opportunity of the Twenty-First Century is the Green industrial revolution.

Through a Just Transition, we can create hundreds of thousands of jobs – in Ireland, and throughout Europe.

Through wind energy and solar power, through emergingtechnologies.

We must move fast and build things to deliver on climate.

And we must promote the positive opportunities in Just Transition.

The economic benefits of switching from Fossil Fuels to Renewables.

The public health benefits of using bicycles and buses more than cars.

The enormous benefit of saving Biodiversity, preserving Nature – from Dublin Bay to Lough Neagh.

And we must work too across our island.

Labour is a party of Connollyite Republicans.

And as leader of a Republican party, I am calling now on the Irish and British governments to set a clear timeline for the holding of a Unity referendum.

Friends, we don’t want a fourth green field for its own sake.

We know better than to run a referendum in haste – without sufficient preparation, or groundwork.

But we do need a clear timeframe to allow for preparation of a Green and White paper, for citizens’ assemblies.

And for respectful and considered debate.

To start that process of preparation towards a United Ireland.

That’s why we need a dedicated Government Department – to carry out the necessary work of reconciliation and unityplanning.

Our goal is to build a new 32 county Republic.

In our new Republic, just as now, the Labour Party will stand firm to ensure security for all our communities.

Including our new Irish, who have chosen to make Ireland their home.

An Ireland for all.

Because our flag belongs to everyone.

Conference, we condemn outright the ugly politics of racism, the hideous protests and attacks against IPAS centres, and the recent horrific fire in Drogheda.

We stand in solidarity with those families burnt out of their home just two weeks ago.

I am so proud of all our Labour representatives who have stood firm against Hate.

Unlike other parties, we provide leadership for inclusion and tolerance.

Not dog-whistle rhetoric on migration.

Because we are the Party of inclusion and of equality.

Comrades,

In its first hundred years, this State was defined by a two-and-a-half party system.

As we move into the next hundred years, that form has been smashed.

We now have three bigger parties.

And we have significant differences with each of those.

But we are closely aligned in our values with the Green Party and Social Democrats.

The election of Catherine Connolly as President has offered hope for an alternative future.

It gives the chance for us to build on the momentum of Catherine’s campaign – to unite and win.

To break the old mould.

It’s a challenge for Labour – but we have never shied away from a challenge.

As Party Leader, I am relentlessly focused on the future.

On growing our Party, our support base.

Not for the sake of it, but for the Future.

Because together, with a united Left movement, we can develop an inclusive society, a secure society, an equal society.

Friends, our politics are the politics of the future.

For those of you watching at home – I invite you: join us.

Join the Labour Party.

Leanaimid ar aghaidh!

Go raibh maith agaibh go léir.

Onwards!​​​​​