Editing Pat Rabbitte (section)

==Labour Party leader and aftermath==
Following the [[1997 Irish general election|1997 general election]] the Rainbow Coalition lost office. In 1999, Democratic Left merged with the Labour Party, with Rabbitte participating in the negotiations. In October 2002 Rabbitte succeeded [[Ruairi Quinn]] as leader of the Labour Party. Under his leadership the party made some gains in the [[2004 Irish local elections|2004 local elections]]. Rabbitte has been described as an extremely good performer in the Dáil, often outshining his Fine Gael counterpart [[Enda Kenny]]. He was also noted for his anti-[[Fianna Fáil]] rhetoric.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}

Under Rabbitte the Labour Party agreed to enter a pre-election pact with Fine Gael in an attempt to offer the electorate an alternative coalition government at the [[2007 Irish general election|2007 general election]], which took place in May 2007. This was commonly known as The Mullingar Accord and the proposed alternative government was called the Alliance for Change. The [[Green Party (Ireland)|Green Party]] were also anticipated to be likely members of the coalition government on the basis of agreed points of view on many issues covered by the Mullingar Accord.

The election result did not return a sufficient number of seats for the Alliance for Change to occupy government, even with the support of the Green Party. Rabbitte himself commented on the election result: "This leaves Mr. Ahern in the driving seat". Negotiations between Fianna Fáil and the Green Party resulted in a Fianna Fáil leader [[Bertie Ahern]] forming a [[27th Government of Ireland|new government]] on 13 June 2007.

Following the disappointing result in the election for Labour, Rabbitte announced he was stepping down as leader on 23 August 2007. In his resignation statement, he took responsibility for the outcome of the recent general election, in which his party failed to gain new seats and failed to replace the outgoing government.<ref name=RTE_23082007/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labour.ie/press/listing/1187883498685473.html |title=''Pat Rabbitte announces he is standing down as Labour Party leader'' (resignation speech text) |work=Labour party website |date=23 August 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305094112/http://www.labour.ie/press/listing/1187883498685473.html |archive-date=5 March 2012 }}</ref> He was succeeded as party leader by [[Eamon Gilmore]].

Rabbitte gained public attention on 18 November 2010 when he angrily criticised the [[Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth|Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs]], [[Pat Carey]], when they appeared together on ''[[Prime Time (Irish TV programme)|Prime Time]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1120/1224283770140.html |title=Miriam Lord's Week: Spat of the Pats is Prime attraction |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=20 November 2010 |access-date=21 November 2010 |archive-date=24 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101124141455/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/1120/1224283770140.html |url-status=live }}</ref> An online recording of the outburst was viewed 100,000 times in its first three days there.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqx4E5tq1Bo&feature=aso |title=Pat Rabbitte sticks it to Pat Carey on Prime Time |work=[[YouTube]] |access-date=17 November 2010 |archive-date=5 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130905212432/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqx4E5tq1Bo&feature=aso |url-status=live }}</ref>

Rabbitte was re-elected on the first count in the [[2011 Irish general election|2011 general election]]. His running mate [[Eamonn Maloney]] was also elected.

===Ministerial career: 2011–2014===
[[Image:Pat Rabbitte, May 2015 (cropped).jpg|thumb|200px|Rabbitte in 2015]]
On 9 March 2011, Rabbitte was appointed [[Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Appointment of Members of Government; Assignment of Departments of State|date=15 March 2011|journal=[[Iris Oifigiúil]]|url=https://irisoifigiuil.ie/archive/2011/march/IR150311.pdf|issue=21|volume=2011|pages=380–381, 383|access-date=10 August 2021|archive-date=10 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210810130906/https://irisoifigiuil.ie/archive/2011/march/IR150311.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

The journalist [[Fintan O'Toole]], writing in ''[[The Irish Times]]'' in August 2011, criticised the lack of royalties system for gas and oil in Ireland. He claimed: "The State is about to sign away almost all our resources on terms by far the worst in the developed world".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0816/1224302525090.html|title=Let's make Norway joint owner of our oil and gas|work=[[Irish Times]]|date=16 August 2011|first=Fintan|last=O'Toole|access-date=18 August 2011|archive-date=18 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818123111/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0816/1224302525090.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Rabbitte responded with a letter, claiming that the article was inaccurate.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0818/1224302638286.html|title=Oil firms will shun us if we have Norwegian-style taxes|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=18 August 2011|access-date=18 August 2011|archive-date=18 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818184435/https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2011/0818/1224302638286.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Rabbitte's response was in turn criticised by [[Cian O'Callaghan]],&nbsp;a Labour Party member of [[Fingal County Council]], as "misguided".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2011/0819/1224302708018.html|title=Sharing energy with Norway|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=19 August 2011|access-date=21 August 2011|archive-date=18 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111118091036/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/letters/2011/0819/1224302708018.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In July 2014, Rabbitte was replaced by [[Alex White (Irish politician)|Alex White]] as part of a reshuffle of the cabinet. He did not contest the [[2016 Irish general election|2016 general election]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thejournal.ie/rabbitte-2201860-Jul2015/|title=Pat Rabbitte will NOT be contesting the next general election|work=TheJournal.ie|date=6 July 2015|access-date=13 August 2015|archive-date=10 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910021748/http://www.thejournal.ie/rabbitte-2201860-Jul2015/|url-status=live}}</ref>