Tanaiste and Labour leader Joan Burton has said Sinn Fein is more concerned with “protecting its good republican friends than actually building a good Republic”.

Speaking at her party conference in Mullingar, Co Westmeath on Saturday morning, Ms Burton attacked the Opposition, while characterising the Fine Gael/Labour coalition as one in which the centre right and the centre left had found centre ground.

“The Opposition by stark contrast have nothing to offer in the way of substantial policies. Fianna Fail nearly bankrupted the country and they’re now totally bankrupt of ideas,” she said.

Referring to senior Sinn Fein figures description of Thomas “Slab” Murphy as a “good republican”, Ms Burton said: “Sinn Fein are more concerned are more protecting about their good republican friends than actually building a good Republic.”

Following applause from party members, she added: “They don’t represent an alternative. They represent renewed incompetence on the one hand and frankly something much more sinister on the other.”

Ms Burton conceded that her party had “a fight on our hands” over the next few weeks, and called on “progressive” voters to return Labour to government with a “sizeable block” of TDs.

“The Taoiseach and I share a vision for sustainable public finances, for jobs and growth and for a better security,” she said.

“Each party fights its corner. We have a battle of ideas. We negotiate, we compromise. The centre left and the centre right find centre ground and we reach agreed solutions in the best interests of our people.”

The Government had not got everything right, she conceded, but it was “essential” that the current Coalition was re-elected in the interests of stability.

She said the “Labour stamp” on the Government had been clear. She cited the reverse of the cut to the minimum wage, the reduction to USC for low and middle income workers and increased protection for workers’ rights.

Ms Burton said core welfare payments had been protected “in the worst of times” and were now being increased “in a targeted way” as resources became available.

“We legislated for the X-case and we delivered the marriage equality referendum,” she said.