Still votes ‘to be won’ in Cork: It’s ‘all to play for’ ahead of election

Tánaiste and Cork South-Central TD Micheál Martin could be in line to be the next taoiseach, as support for Fine Gael looks to have dropped, according to most recent figures.

Following the latest opinion poll — which shows that Fianna Fáil is leading the way at 21% — Micheál Martin said he is not getting “excited” ahead of Friday’s general election.

According to the Irish Times/Ipsos B&A survey, Fianna Fáil is up two points on the last poll two weeks ago, Sinn Féin is up one on 20%, while Fine Gael is on 19% — down six points since the November 14 poll.

The weekend Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks opinion poll, however, put Fine Gael support at 22% — down four percentage points — Sinn Féin up two points to 20% and Fianna Fáil unchanged on 20%.

“You can go up or down 2%, so I’m not getting in any way excited about these polls,” Mr Martin said yesterday. “We would have always felt that the three parties, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and Sinn Féin were in about the 20.

“There’s a lot of votes to be won yet, and there are a lot of issues on the doorstep.”

He added: “It would be very, very foolish to read too much into the two polls we’ve had this weekend.

“I’ve been really concentrating on ensuring that our teams across the length and breadth of the country get out to knock on doors, to get the message out, to get our candidates over the line.

“I’ve experienced this before last election and so on, when the last number of days can be crucial in terms of maintaining clarity on the message … We’re very clear that we have a lot of work to do.”

Sinn Féin, meanwhile, has welcomed the recent polling results, as the party remains hopeful it will lead the next Government after winning just one less seat than Fianna Fáil and two more than Fine Gael in the last general election.

Cork South-Central Sinn Féin TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire told The Echo: “I think the polls reflect what we are seeing on the ground. As it gets closer to polling day, people are analysing different policies and I think coming to the conclusion that there needs to be a change of Government. The people who can deliver that change in Government are Sinn Féin.

“It’s clearly all to play for, nothing is decided yet, and it’s looking very tight between the three main parties, but we’re fielding the most candidates we ever have and we are hopeful that we can lead the next Government. We’re going to be out canvassing night and day, trying to get as many people as we can elected and hopefully deliver the change people need in terms of housing and health.

“People are frustrated with this Government, and I think there’s been evidence of that in recent days — they have come across as out of touch and like they feel entitled to lead the Government.”

The slump in Fine Gael support shown by both polls comes on the foot of an apology from Taoiseach Simon Harris, who faced criticism for his handling of an encounter with a disability care worker while canvassing in Kanturk on Friday.

The care worker, Charlotte Fallon, said on C103’s Cork Today show: “The money we were promised hasn’t come to us and our lads deserve better. I [saw] people congratulating him and shaking his hand, and that kind of put the fuel to my fire. It just came out of me.”

Ms Fallon added that she was “taken aback” by the initial response from Mr Harris, but since understands his position following a phone call she had with him after the interaction.

Since the clip gained traction online, Mr Harris has appeared on RTÉ’s Today with Claire Byrne to discuss the interaction, saying that he was “deeply annoyed” with himself.

“There’s no one more annoyed with me than me — I know what it’s like to be in a family where you feel let down and where you fight for services,” he said. “The point is, I was wrong. I didn’t meet my own standards, let alone anybody else’s, I really came up short.”

This is one of several incidents that have put Fine Gael under pressure during the election campaign, including comments about teachers made by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary and the party’s selection of John McGahon as a candidate in Louth.

The latest Irish Times/Ipsos poll has the Green Party on 4%, Labour on 4%, Social Democrats on 6%, People Before Profit on 3%, Aontú on 3% and Independents (including Independent Ireland) down three percentage points on 17%.

In terms of personal favourability, Mr Harris’s popularity is down from 50% to 46%, while Mr Martin is on 44%, down one point. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald is unchanged on 31%.

The Sunday Independent/Ireland Thinks poll, meanwhile, has Independents up three points to 19%, Aontú up to 5%, Social Democrats on 5%, Labour on 4%, the Greens on 3% and People Before Profit-Solidarity on 2%.