Election off to a dull start with no clear winner following debate

It has been a dull start to the election. Week one was taken over with verbal pirouettes about fiscal space. While crime dominated the airwaves through week two, the parties remain gridlocked in the polls and even the first of the leaders’ debates failed to deliver any breakthrough.

The government campaign got off to a rocky start. There were big questions about their numbers on fiscal space and it was week two before they built a bit of momentum. The Fine Gael campaign has steadied.

There is a clear, if rather uninspiring campaign mantra, “keep the recovery going”, and while some voters may have only heard this in passing, for those who regularly watch and listen to current affairs programmes, it has become something of a source of amusement.