Labour braced for by-election defeat

The Labour Party is bracing itself for a bruising defeat in Wednesday’s Meath East by-election.

The junior Coalition partner privates accepts it will bear the brunt of the Government’s unpopularity but still hopes its candidate, Eoin Holmes, will do enough to stay ahead of Sinn Féin.

The contest is boiling down to a battle between Fianna Fáil’s candidate, Senator Thomas Byrne, and Fine Gael’s Helen McEntee, whose father, Shane McEntee, held a seat here from 2005 up until his tragic death before Christmas.