As parties jockey for poll position ahead of the election, the outcome is far from certain

IS THIS going to be a cod liver oil general election or a plague on all your houses one, asks Alison O’Connor. 

The difference between the two in the end could be whether the Government is re-elected, or we have another election fairly quickly afterwards.

In the first instance the voters will hold their nose as they approach the ballot box, but opt for the status quo, as in the current Government, possibly with a few independents. In government circles they are under no illusions that the votes they garner will be cast with any degree of affection, they’ve discarded their pride in that respect — in the end a vote is a vote. It will be a case of hold your nose and drop that vote into the box.