FG must retain Finance if they want to lead the way to the Rainbow

AS a former Fine Gael national youth officer, I am astounded that the party has failed to hone in on the youth vote, with Fianna Fáil being the preference for nearly half of the 18-24 age bracket.

It’s especially worrying for the future that Ireland’s leading opposition party trails Sinn Féin in this age bracket.

Given that Fine Gael has a variety of young TDs, senators and councillors, it’s clear that they’re not being properly utilised as an electoral resource. Enda Kenny must sort this.

As a young Dubliner, I am astounded that Fine Gael is still bottom of the heap when it comes to party support in the capital. It’s had three years now since its near general election obliteration in Dublin to get its strategy and organisation in order there. The Irish Examiner poll makes it clear that the party must work harder and smarter on both.

Fine Gael would be wise to do all it can to appear muscular and not malleable, confident and not compromised when it comes to its leadership of the prospective Rainbow’s economic policies. Since Brian Cowen is perceived to be the best-performing minister by the public and since FF will place great emphasis on the economy during the election campaign, FG should guarantee, pre-election, that the Department of Finance would be in its hands, and not Labour’s, in a new Rainbow government. A minister for finance from a party that has suffered a reverse takeover by Democratic Left is likely to be as unpalatable to many ‘true blues’ as he or she would be to the business community. Address these three issues promptly and the next opinion poll will be a more Fine Gael-friendly read.

Andrew Greaney

29 Castle Ave

Clontarf

Dublin 3