Fine Gael anxious over lack of campaign breakthrough

There is growing anxiety in Fine Gael at the party’s failure to generate the momentum it had counted on going into the second half of the general election campaign.

With just 10 days left to polling, all the indications are that Fine Gael has failed to make the breakthrough it requires to be sure of returning to government for a successive term.

One leading party strategist on Tuesday night expressed disappointment the Fine Gael campaign had not had the expected impact. However, he expressed confidence the party would pick up support in the closing stages.

The latest opinion poll from Red C for the Irish Sun has confirmed the worries in the Fine Gael camp. The party has dropped two points to 26 per cent, compared with the last poll conducted by the company for the Sunday Business Post last week.

Sinn Féin down

Fianna Fáil has gained one point to 19 per cent; Sinn Féin has dropped three points to 17 per cent; Labour is on 9 per cent, up 1 point; and smaller parties and Independents have gained four points to 29 per cent.

The breakdown of the 29 per cent figure shows Independents on 18 per cent; the Green Party on 4 per cent; the Social Democrats on 3 per cent; the AAA-PBP on 2 per cent and Renua on 2 per cent.

A constituency poll in Kerry conducted by Ipsos MRBI for TG4 confirmed the substantial shift to Independents, who had the support of 39 per cent of those polled, followed by Fine Gael on 27 per cent; Fianna Fáil on 16 per cent; Labour on 8 per cent; Sinn Féin on 7 per cent and Others on 3 per cent.

If repeated on polling day it would see the two Healy-Rae brothers elected, along with the two sitting Fine Gael TDs, Jimmy Deenihan and Brendan Griffin, and a new Fianna Fáil TD.

Yesterday, Mr Kenny warned of potential dangers if some of the alternatives took power, pointing to the experience of Greece and Portugal: “That’s a choice for the people and I think they will reflect on that very carefully in the next seven to 10 days.

“They decide what direction our country goes: forwards or backwards,” he said.

Fianna Fáil Finance spokesman Michael McGrath said Mr Kenny’s claim was “completely bogus and lacking in any foundation”. Fianna Fáil would not take risks with the public finances and was committed to a balanced budget, while Fine Gael relied on “some very dubious claims in order to make their figures add up”, he said.