Health protests – Government candidates face roasting

IF the Government expected controversial local issues to be swamped by the political squabbling over the citizenship referendum, it will be in for something of a shock when voters go to the polls on Friday.

Judging by the flurry of hospital protests up and down the country, people on the ground are angry and see the elections as an opportunity to send out a loud signal to the Coalition, two years into its term of office.

In particular, going on the results of the latest opinion poll, Fianna Fáil, the country’s biggest party, is in danger of losing an unprecedented number of seats in the local elections.