Enda Kenny on defensive but up for a real fight
Speaking on Sean O’Rourke’s programme on RTÉ Radio 1, Kenny insisted he is not that bothered by the polls. “I don’t take much notice of polls, I’m always an optimist. General elections are always about a real fight, a real challenge, I’m up for this,” he said.
“Obviously, the challenge for me and for the party, is to explain to people over the next nine days what is on offer here.”
Despite the latest poll telling Kenny and Fine Gael that their message is not cutting it with the electorate, what did he do but continue on exactly the same path on the canvass yesterday.
Kenny was forced to admit that his message of “keep the recovery going” has not been understood by people. He says the weakness in his message is that the recovery has not translated into people’s lives.
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To prove his point, a poll yesterday by Newstalk/Red C found that 56% of adults have not felt the effects of the economic recovery personally, while 44% said the upturn has benefited them.
Almost four in five respondents believe the recovery is on a two-tier basis, being felt more by some and not others.
So for all their focus groups and intense market research, the Fine Gael whizz kids clearly have got it wrong.
It is hardly a smart thing to be ramming home the message of keeping a recovery going when a majority of people aren’t feeling any recovery at all.
It comes across as patronising and arrogant.
Kenny accepted the next eight days will be a “dog fight” in every one of the 40 constituencies.
He said: “My story is reality because I’m a realist. Politics is the lifeblood of, elections are the lifeblood of politicians and they’re about choices and this was always going to be a dogfight, it was always going to be a challenge in every constituency, every seat is a battlefield, everybody knows that. Did anybody think that this was going to be a cakewalk or a doddle? Maybe some people did. Not from me.”
Whatever about Fine Gael’s woes, the opinion poll, conducted by Red C for The Irish Sun, only temporarily masked Joan Burton’s poor performance at the leaders’ debate on Monday night.
Asked about the overuse of her hands while she speaks, the Labour leader claimed female politicians come under greater scrutiny than their male counterparts over their public performances.
The Tánaiste said she has no intention of “standing back” and “doing a bit of Downton Abbey and the teacups” after being asked if her performances are damaging her party’s election chances.
Burton dismissed suggestions that the “overuse” of her hands is proving to be a distraction during live television debates.
“Lots of male colleagues have peculiarities, mannerisms, that not everybody cares for,” Burton said, adding that female politicians come under greater scrutiny than men.
“If they feel there is something inappropriate in a woman not standing back and sitting down and you know, doing a bit of Downton Abbey and the teacups. I feel very, very passionate about this country, and the potential of its future, about the young people. So I apologise if I didn’t meet the standard of everyone but I’m very confident as well that our Labour TDs and candidates are going to surprise on the day and do very well.”
Burton is facing mounting criticism from within her own party over her debate performances amid claims they could derail the party’s re-election bid.
After an under-par performance during the four-way TV3 debate last Thursday, she was widely seen to have been far off the pace during Monday night’s seven-way event on RTÉ.
Senior party ministers have said they are growing increasingly concerned that Burton’s public interactions are damaging Labour’s chances as the race for the Dáil enters its final week.
In particular, they are concerned her role in the campaign to date is hampering rearguard attempts to secure a number of vital seats Labour needs if it is to be relevant in the post-election negotiations shake-up.
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