Jumped or pushed?

Ruairi Quinn caught the entire nation off-guard yesterday when he announced his resignation as Minister for Education. He also said he will retire from politics completely at the next general election.

It appears that the shockwaves from the local election results are still shaking the Labour Party to the top. No leader has officially been named as yet following Eamon Gilmore’s resignation last month, but you won’t find great odds if you try to bet against Joan Burton securing the post.

However, it seems that Quinn was fairly certain that Burton would not reappoint him to the post when she does collect the Labour crown. So he decided to jump before he was pushed and preserve his legacy of being a three-time Cabinet Minister, a Senator and a former Leader of the party.

The incoming 1973 Fine Gael/Labour cabinet.

There have been rumours of a split within the Labour Party for quite some time now, but it is becoming obvious who was on the winning side. Hopefully, once the power struggle is over, the Labour Party will be able to focus all their attention on working for their constituents and remembering what the party stands for.