Crime has taken over as the lead issue of election campaign

Fine Gael has been caught flatfooted over the recent murders, while Sinn Féin is shipping a lot of criticism, says Special Correspondent Michael Clifford

Sometimes, there’s no keeping the economy going. Fine Gael’s plan to fight the general election on the recovery has hit the skids. Pitching yourself as the rock of stability keeping chaos at bay simply doesn’t ring true when photographs of men entering a city centre hotel brandishing AK-47s dominate the news.

Crime has taken over as the lead issue of the campaign. Two murders, both audacious in their execution and repellent in their brutality, have skewed the pitch. You can have as much fiscal space as you like, but if people don’t feel safe on their streets, they are not going to vote to keep anything going.