Parties roll out the promises in battle for rural votes

The Fine Gael-Labour coalition and Fianna Fáil have begun an open war for rural votes in the next general election, after launching separate policy documents promising a series of long-delayed measures within hours of each other.

The main opposition party joined the Government in zoning in on the vital electoral heartland after a weekend in which Labour’s annual conference heard repeated plans to rejuvenate the struggling regions and hours before Rural Affairs Minister Ann Phelan unexpectedly announced a new group to oversee reforms.

In a pre-arranged launch yesterday morning, Fianna Fáil’s environment spokesperson Barry Cowen published a “revamped” version of his party’s plan to address the “crisis in Irish towns”.