‘Gilmore is weak and may lose his seat, which would serve FG’

Fine Gael has outlined the strengths and weaknesses of its own TDs – as well as their opponents – in internal strategy documents prepared for the general election.

The constituency profiles, considered by the Fine Gael national executive this week, lay out the favoured approach by local activists, but offer blunt assessments of deputies and candidates.

The document says the party would benefit if former Tánaiste and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore lost his Dáil seat.

Dún Laoghaire, a four seat constituency, has two Fine Gael TDs: Ceann Comhairle Séan Barrett and Mary Mitchell O'Connor, along with Mr Gilmore for Labour an People Before Profit's Richard Boyd Barrett.

The local Fine Gael branch says one of the party’s strengths is Mr Gilmore’s weakness.

“Gilmore is weak and may lose his seat, which would serve FG,” it says.

The Fine Gael Kerry branch sized up Independent Michael Healy-Rae as someone who hides behind “the veneer of a friendly/simple country yokel” but who is “unbeatable electorally”.

“Very much a professional and competent mover behind all the bluster, recent rows with other reps reveal that he has a vicious temper and cannot tolerate any counter allegations against him. His weakness lies in our candidates’ ability to counter attack on live radio.”

Another constituency also document describes Labour backbench Kerry TD Arthur Spring as "goosed".

“AJ Spring (Lab) is not likely to receive any significant vote. He will contest. He is peeved by his lack of support. He is goosed.”

It also says the party faces a challenge in Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s constituency because of “real concerns over perceived lack of Government delivery to Mayo”.

Of its own deputies, it says that while Dún Laoghaire’s Mary-Mitchell O’Connor is a strong candidate, she may be damaged by an incident early in this Dáil term when she drove her car across the Leinster House plinth.

“Her incident with her car may have damaged her reputation with some voters, though she has proven herself able to manage that with humour.”

The intentions of Séan Barrett - whether he will retire or choose to avail of the free run given to the Ceann Comhairle - are also mentioned in the report.

If Mr Barrett avails of the free run, the constituency effectively drops to a three seater.

“Whether constituency is a 3 / 4 seater, we expect MMOC (Mary Mitchell O’Connor) to retain her seat,” the document says.

“The constituency generally delivers a FG vote either 3% or 4% higher than the national average FG vote. In the event of the constituency being a 4 seater, DL would need to deliver 40% of the vote in order to win two seats.”