A long and bumpy ride to the hustings for Coalition

Enda Kenny may have sounded the starting gun for the longest general election campaign in history — but opponents insist he is firing blanks.

In an attempt to regain the political initiative after a torrid six months of dither and drift, which saw the Government blown off course by everything from accusations of cronyism to public outrage at the mismanagement of Irish Water, Mr Kenny has tried to turn the spotlight back on the economy.

Knowing the party that frames the tone of the election campaign usually wins, he wants voters to go to the ballot booth with the question in their head being: “Will a change of Government damage the recovery?”, not: “Could any Government be more incompetent than this one?”