A socialist TD has said electing a left-wing government won't be enough to bring a true end to austerity.

Paul Murphy says a new government would have to be backed up by major national movements, in order to survive where the likes of Greece has failed.

He says people shouldn't think that electing a government of left-wing TDs will be enough to change Irish politics forever - and that instead a mass public movement is needed.

The comments come in the final installment of our 'Headliners' interview series on Today FM, examining the new political parties and groups contesting their first general election in 2016.

Deputy Murphy also claims Labour is no longer a left-wing party - because it has exactly the same positions on many issues as Fine Gael.

In the interview he says the defence Labour has put up for many measures means there's virtually no difference with its coalition partner.

You can listen to Gavan Reilly's full interview with Paul Murphy here:

Did you miss the previous interviews in this series?