Paul Hosford: By-elections will highlight differing fortunes of government parties

Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are not the only parties with high stakes in the next 14 days in Dublin Central and Galway West

Taoiseach Micheál Martin (left) and Tánaiste Simon Harris (right) might see that government parties don't win by-elections. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

It is a sentiment that you will hear again and again over the coming fortnight. When the boxes are opened in Dublin Central and Galway West in two weeks, you will be told that the by-elections were and are a referendum on the government. 

This is not untrue, it is important to say. By-elections, by their very nature, occur mid-term of a government and are always seen as a reflection of the satisfaction with and popularity of a government's manifesto.