Fine Gael face uphill battle to regain rural support

With the number of targeted Government policy papers, action plans and long-term strategies published rural Ireland should have nothing to complain about.

But for many farmers, Fine Gael’s lofty ideas only translate into broken promises and those trying to earn a living from the land are now exasperated.

This year’s Irish Examiner poll shows that farmers, a group which used to be a dead-cert vote for the two larger parties, are losing faith in the political system altogether.

One in four of people polled said they don’t know who they would vote for if a general election was called in the morning.

A further 8% said they wouldn’t bother to vote at all — up from just 3% last year. While this still remains relatively small, farmers remain well above the national average when it comes to voter turnout and have always been a key target group for political parties.

Any erosion of this base could result in a shift of power in the Dáil, possibly even away from the two main parties who have always received strong support from the farming sector.

Another worry for Leo Varadkar, who will make the annual pilgrimage to the National Ploughing Championships tomorrow, is the fact Fine Gael has slumped eight points in a year according to the Irish Examiner poll. Fine Gael recorded its lowest level of support this year when compared to the past five years of the survey and now stands at 32%, down from 40% last year.

While donning a pair of shiny new Wellies, mingling with the culchies and posing in tractor cabs may make for good photo-ops, farmers are now seeing through the spin.

At yet another launch of the Government’s Project Ireland 2040 plan in Westport in July, the Taoiseach stressed the need to create stronger rural economies and communities.

Mr Varadkar highlighted the ambitious plan to achieve balanced regional development, to regenerate and develop rural Ireland so that our growth and prosperity is shared across the whole country.

It is expected that our population will grow by 1m in the next 20 years. The Government wants to ensure that 75% of the expected population growth will take place outside of Dublin. It’s all about a getting a more even spread across the country and moving away from the Dublin-centric development.

Speaking at the Co Mayo event Mr Varadkar said he dislikes attempts to create an artificial divide between rural Ireland and urban Ireland, “to play one off against the other”.

We know the divide exists but it is not as great as some make out,” he said.

The divide may be diminishing but in reality those in rural Ireland are still at a significant disadvantage.

And there is nothing artificial about the fact that many people who want to live and work and set up businesses outside of urban hubs simply can’t. The lack of decent public transport, rail links and, above all, high-speed broadband is a major inhibitor to everyone in rural Ireland —not just farmers.

As the Dáil returns after its summer break today, representatives from Eir will appear before a meeting of the Oireachtas communications committee as the shambles around the provision of broadband rumbles on.

The number of delays and setbacks which have besieged the roll-out of broadband would be comical if it wasn’t significantly stunting growth in many areas across the country.

If Fine Gael, the party of big business and farmers, is to cling onto its traditional support base it will have to deliver with actions not just reports.