The general election campaigns of the main political parties got under way today with Fianna Fáil quickly suggesting the strategies of Labour and Fine Gael were at odds with one another.
The parties set out their stalls, ahead of the February 25th vote, at campaign launches in Dublin this morning and by mid-afternoon there were aimed criticisms of opposing party policies and leaders.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin claimed disunity was already showing between Fine Gael and Labour, who have been tipped to form a coalition government after the election.
Mr Martin said Ireland could not afford a "tug of war Government" and that there were notable differences between the two parties over matters such as taxation.
Assessing his party’s chances, Mr Martin said accepted that the electorate was angry about the way the economy had been handled. But he claimed the two main opposition parties had avoided making the hard decisions required. "Anger will not solve the problems we face. And neither will empty promises," he said.
"I am not here today to sugarcoat the situation, or promise that all will be well if you simply vote for my party. I will leave that talk to Fine Gael, Labour and Sinn Féin."
Fine Gael published a five-point plan in Dublin this morning and party leader Enda Kenny said his top priority was to address the jobs crisis.
Mr Kenny said Ireland needs a smaller and better public sector and that the only alternative to public sector reform is tax increases. He also committed his party to abolishing the Seanad and cutting the number of TDs by 20.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said his party was offering "a break from the past". For the first time in the 90-year history of the State, people had a chance to elect a government that was led by his party, he told the Labour campaign launch at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.
Mr Gilmore said the Labour campaign would focus on job creation and political reform. He said his party will also be proposing changes to the universal social charge to mitigate its effects on lower-income families.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said comments yesterday by Mr Gilmore that the election was a three-way contest had a “certain arrogance” to them.
Speaking in Dundalk this morning, Mr Adams hit out at what he said was the Labour vision at leadership level which is “a Fine Gael government with Labour in it”. “It doesn’t make sense to me how any party which is progressive could have a vision which is as narrow and as stunted as that which is about putting Fine Gael into power,” he said.
There were further exchanges between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil this afternoon.
Fianna Fáil Limerick TD Niall Collins said Fine Gael was attempting to shield Mr Kenny from hard questioning from the media, after some reporters were unhappy Mr Kenny’s press officers called an early end to a press conference this morning.
Mr Collins said Mr Kenny would not be able to spend the next three weeks running away from difficult questions.
Fine Gael candidate in Dublin Central Paschal Donohoe said Mr Martin had put forward no plan and no policies to reverse the catastrophic decisions made by Fianna Fáil during its 13-years in government. "This stands in stark contrast to Enda Kenny and Fine Gael when we outlined our Five Point Plan to get Ireland working,” he said.
In his farewell speech to the Dáil yesterday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen called for a respectful debate on the State’s future during the campaign.“This election will define our economic future and decide whether Ireland moves forward from this recession, prolongs it or succumbs to it," he said.