Former Labour leader Eamon Gilmore has said he believes Brendan Howlin will do an excellent job as the new leader of the party.
Mr Howlin was elected unopposed as Labour Party leader yesterday after outgoing deputy leader Alan Kelly failed to secure the necessary support for a leadership run.
Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday with Claire Byrne, he described Mr Howlin as "a conviction politician".
He said Mr Howlin was a "unifying figure", adding the new leader was "the one person in the Labour Party who can bring the members around to support what he is doing".
Mr Gilmore added that media coverage in the lead-up to the announcement of the new leader was "quite unfair" to both Mr Howlin and his colleague Mr Kelly.
He said he had "enormous respect" for Mr Kelly, who he said would help Mr Howlin to rebuild the Labour Party.
He added: "I can understand his disappointment at not having the opportunity to run."
With regard to the lack of a contest for leadership, Mr Gilmore said rebuilding the party was an urgent task and a contest would have taken a long time given the time of year, with the result that there would have likely been no new leader until September at the earliest.
