FIANNA FÁIL:MINISTER FOR Transport Noel Dempsey, who is also Fianna Fáil director of elections for the local councils, has written to party activists around the State urging them not to be downhearted by media "sneering".
In a letter sent to the party’s 250 directors of elections, which has been seen by The Irish Times, Mr Dempsey writes: “While a lot of the national media have been writing Fianna Fáil off, remember that we have been written off many times before.”
Recalling the days before the last general election, he adds: “The same opinion polls predicted defeat for Fianna Fáil. The media was smugly anticipating ‘meltdown’ for the party.
“Enda Kenny was singing Oh What a Beautiful Morning in premature celebration, but we fought in that last week of campaigning, and we won that election.”
The letter continues: “That is because Fianna Fáil people are fighters. When we hear the media sneering at us, we get fire in our bellies. We have never won elections through the media. We have always won elections through our candidates, our organisers, and from hard work on the ground.
“Next Friday’s polls are about local candidates in over 250 local areas,” Mr Dempsey writes. “So please ensure our canvassers and candidates get the message: this will be a parish-by-parish fight, right up until the last vote is cast.”
