Ivana Bacik

2022 - 3 - 24

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Irish Times"

Ivana Bacik's first task as Labour leader is to broaden her own appeal (The Irish Times)

New party leader's challenge is formidable and winning more seats will be her acid test, writes Harry McGee.

The only test of Bacik as a leader will be to evaluate how she does as an actual leader. So the party needs to broaden its appeal. The main difference is that Labour is more amenable to going into government than its rivals. That will be the real test. You can only get the measure of a leader by seeing how they do in the actual role. That win gave the party its first fillip in almost all that time, after it shipped the electoral brunt for being a part of a coalition that imposed austerity measures as the State tried to recover from a financial crisis caused by others.

Ivana Bacik commits to discussing her Trinity career break as she is ... (Independent.ie)

Ivana Bacik has committed to discuss her career break from a lucrative academic post in Trinity College after she was officially appointed as Labour Party ...

It was a Government that pulled us back from the brink financially and that left office in 2016 leaving the country in a better space financially. Ms Bacik declined to set targets for seats or polling. The salary for similar academic post ranges from €83,570 to €116,528 a year. They should also be facilitated in the public and private service.” And change is always a choice,” she added. For me politics is constructive – it’s about positive change.

Bacik 'honoured and delighted' to be new Labour leader (RTE.ie)

Dublin Bay South TD, Ivana Bacik, has said she is "honoured and delighted" to have been elected the 14th leader of the Labour Party, succeeding Alan Kelly ...

Labour Party leader Ivanka Bacik has said her party is pressing for a mini-Budget immediately to address the cost-of-living crisis. She also called for a pay rise for workers "I think there’s a real appetite there for Labour values – for our core values of equality, solidarity and fairness... Deputy Bacik said she sincerely hoped she could repay the trust which the party had placed in her today - and she promised to fight for change, as she has always done. Asked how she can ensure Labour to move on from the criticism heaped upon the party as a consequence of its tenure in Government between 2011 to 2016, she said that Labour was now out of government longer than in government. In a speech to her party and supporters, Ms Bacik said she was honoured, excited and quite overwhelmed at her elevation.

Ivana Bacik succeeds Alan Kelly with sole nomination for Labour ... (Irish Examiner)

In her email to members, Ms Bacik said that Mr Kelly's ousting was not just down to polling.

It's certainly a challenge because it's what my focus is on - growing the message of our party and growing support. It will grow not just our party, because it's not just about our party it's about the values that we espouse." The Dublin Bay South TD, elected just last July in a by-election, said she is "honoured, excited and overwhelmed" by her election, which saw her nominated by every Labour TD and a number of constituency organisations.

Ivana Bacik's first task is 'ensuring survival' of Labour Party (The Nationalist)

Ivana Bacik was announced as the new leader of the Labour Party today, and her first task will be ensuring its survival according to a politics professor.

If they can get decent local election results that will position them well to have good candidates to run for the Dáil. “The language on the hard left that Labour sold out is difficult for them to defend, particularly a decade on. “It hasn’t been competitive in Cork in recent elections, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t be, so these are the short term challenges to make sure Labour can survive and carve out a special voice for itself on a competitive left. If they can get decent local election results that will position them well to have good candidates to run for the Dáil. “However, they have a new leader who is bright, articulate, hard-working, campaigning for decades as she said in her press conference, and has been on the right side of social issues. “Would I expect Ivana Bacik to win in Dublin Bay South the next time?

Ivana Bacik confirmed as new leader of the Labour Party (thejournal.ie)

Bacik, who was elected in the Dublin Bay South by-election in July 2021, was the only contender for the party leadership after potential candidates Duncan Smith ...

I think we supported the government of the day in a national crisis, we didn’t do populism,” he said. “Ireland needs a pay rise. “I have to acknowledge that we haven’t been able to move on as a party in the opinion polls, and I have a deep regret about that.” She was also endorsed by 29 of Labour’s 39 constituency councils. “I know the ambition you have for our future and for how our party can shape our future for the better,” she told a press conference in Ringsend. In her speech, she also referenced John and Pat Hume, speaking about the impotence of a state that “works for the unity of the people of Ireland.”

Ivana Bacik pledges free childcare as she takes over as Labour leader (The Times)

Ivana Bacik has said that free childcare will be a key policy issue for Labour after she was announced the party's leader yesterday after no other ...