Labour Party President Michael D Higgins has said any possibility of the Labour Party entering a future coalition with Brian Cowen as Taoiseach will depend on his economic policy.

Minister Brian Cowan pictured at the Fianna Fail Conference in the Galway Bay Hotel on Monday. Photo by Reg Gordon.

Following Mr Cowen's nomination as Taoiseach, there has been widespread speculation that the Offaly man, famous for his speech on coalition with the PDs – "if in doubt, keep them out" – would seek a coalition with the Labour Party after the next election.

However, Deputy Higgins said: "The most important issue facing Brian Cowen will be the economic strategy he adopts" in the face of a changing economic climate.

"His economic policies will define relations with the other parties. Mine and my party's view is that in a time of raising unemployment, particularly in the construction sector, the capital programme needs to be driven on. It makes sense."

Deputy Higgins said a cutback in public programmes would only make the economic situation worse, and criticised Fine Gael's concentration on competitiveness, saying there must also be cohesion.

He said the outgoing Taoiseach had said that he had no control over the downturn. However, he said, the public wanted a clear policy on what we can control.

Deputy Higgins said when he was in Cabinet with Brian Cowen in 1994, he had often been "more inclined to listen to what Labour was demanding than the PDs, who are a spent force now."

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