A war of words has erupted between the Social Democrats and the Labour Party over constant suggestions that the parties could "merge".
A quote by a Labour spokeswoman to the Irish Mirror on Wednesday evening has irked many members of the Social Democrats, with new leader Holly Cairns accusing the party of "scraping the barrel for something to say".
In her first press conference as party leader on Wednesday, Ms Cairns was asked about the possibility of the Soc Dems merging with Labour. She said that the answer was a "categoric no".
READ MORE: Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns says Labour 'broke people's trust' as she rules out merger.
When asked what the difference was between her party and Labour, she said that she "understands that there are lots of similarities between the two parties and their policies."
However, she pointed to the fact that Labour votes in favour of greyhound funding while the Social Democrats do not.
A spokeswoman for the Labour Party later told the Irish Mirror: "Among the many differences between us and the Social Democrats is that the Labour Party was founded by James Connolly. The Social Democrats were founded by Stephen Donnelly."
When this quote was put to Ms Cairns by RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne, the Cork South-West TD said that she "wonder[ed] why a spokesperson is going out with remarks like that".
Ms Cairns quipped: "I’d rather be in a party that has abandoned Stephen Donnelly than has abandoned the principles of James Connolly.
"I don’t know why they are making a comparison between [them]. Because it rhymes?
"It seems like they’re scraping the barrel for something to say about the situation.
"It is equally confusing and annoying for the Labour Party as well. Both of us are constantly asked about this. We have no intention of merging."
The Irish Mirror understands that this line was not prepared in advance.
Speaking to RTÉ, Ms Cairns said that she would not rule out going into a coalition with Labour.
However, on Wednesday, she said that Labour had "broken people’s trust".
Ms Cairns said: "I wouldn’t be standing here in front of you, I wouldn’t be a TD, if Catherine (Murphy) and Róisín (Shortall) hadn’t set up the Social Democrats. What I'm talking about here is in terms of trying to earn people's trust.
"I think that trust has been broken between people and the Labour Party."
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