Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has defended Labour’s record in government, while offering harsh criticism of the major opposition parties, saying his party "will not take any guff" from Sinn Féin or Fianna Fáil.

Speaking at the Labour party’s one day conference in Enfield, Co. Meath, the Táiniste criticised both Fianna Fáil’s “recklessness” and Sinn Fein’s “fantasy economics”, while also stating Labour “have rescued the country”.

“We have already achieved the first phase of recovery, we have taken the country out of the bailout, and we will not take any guff from Fianna Fail, who put us into the bailout in the first place, or Sinn Fein, whose daft economics would put us into a second bailout,” Gilmore said.

Gilmore went on to say Labour “represent the people who rely on public services to get the best education for their children, and to look after their sick, and their elderly – people who cannot buy their way out of life’s difficulties.

“We represent the people who paid the price – in job losses, in wage cuts, in extra taxes, in scaled-back services – for Fianna Fáil’s recklessness. And they are the same people who would pay the price for Sinn Féin’s fantasy economics.”

Image credit: Photocall Ireland