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When Labour came to power in 2011 Ireland was in the depths of an economic crisis that had several more years to run.
Fine Gael was the senior partner in the government that spent the next five years struggling to fix the economy while satisfying the demands of the EU and the IMF.
But it was Labour, led by Eamon Gilmore, who bore the brunt of voter frustration over the deep cuts and tax increases his austerity government imposed.
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The party was decimated in the next election and voters, especially working-class voters, never fully trusted the Labour brand again.
So why did Labour get the blame? Could Gilmore and Joan Burton, who succeeded him in 2014, have done things differently?
In this series Pat Leahy and Hugh Linehan relive the fateful events and decisions of that era and, a decade on, take a fresh look at Labour’s collapse.
In episode one they look at Eamon Gilmore, how Labour fought the 2011 election, the formation of the coalition with Fine Gael, how one of Labour’s key promises to voters was abandoned without a fight, and how the seeds of future trouble were sown with Labour’s top brass taking on some of the trickiest ministries.
