Gilmore pledges election will be fought on issues

AS the ‘Gilmore Gale’ swept across counties on the first real day of campaigning, the Labour leader ruled out the election being a contest of personalities, and vowed that it would be issue-led with a lot of the electorate still to make up their minds on voting.

Fianna Fáil continued to expose policy differences between Labour and Fine Gael, but Eamon Gilmore fired back at the outgoing Government party, arguing that it had some “neck” doing so after “wrecking the country”.

Opening day one of electioneering with candidates in Dublin’s suave Gravity Bar overlooking the capital, Mr Gilmore was forced on the defensive after FF leader Micheál Martin suggested that disunity between Labour and Fine Gael would lead to a “tug of war government”.