Those on the political left “have collectively failed to win sufficient support among the electorate for the politics of social solidarity”, according to Siptu president Jack O’Connor.

He told the Labour conference that far more people supported these policies than voted for them, and the failure to secure their votes was because the left "confused strategy and tactics with principles and values" and this resulted in the "fragmentation that has always afflicted our best endeavours".

He told delegates that Labour would now be far more popular if it stayed out of Government, but by any reading of Fine Gael’s manifesto, the cuts imposed would be €1.6 billion to €2 billion more than those already inflicted.

Mr O’Connor said it was to Labour’s credit that it “chose not to take the easy road and rather than making noise it is making a difference”.