Fine Gael leadership candidate Simon Coveney has struck a defiant tone in the campaign with a strong assertion that the race to become party leader and next taoiseach could be far more competitive than the current perception.
Mr Coveney dismissed the notion that the number of TDs and Senators who have pledged support for his rival, Leo Varadkar, has left him with a “real mountain to climb”.
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Speaking in Athlone tonight, Mr Coveney said if half a dozen colleagues who have declared for Mr Varadkar were to switch sides, and if he were to do well in the other two electoral colleges for county councillors, and party members, the race could be close.
He based his optimism that some colleagues might be persuaded to change their minds on the basis that some who had indicated support for him a week ago had later declared for Mr Varadkar during the first 48 hours, when his campaign had strong momentum.
“People know that if half a dozen were to switch and we were to do well with the other colleges, it would become a real contest. I think that is absolutely achievable.”
Not over yet
Mr Coveney was speaking to the media ahead of a rally in Athlone attended by several hundred Fine Gael members. He said the big attendances at his rallies indicated the race was not over yet.
“There are 73 Oireachtas members. Most of them were supportive of me only a week ago. Some of them decided to move with the momentum that was gained by Leo in the first 24 to 48 hours.
“I believe that momentum can change. That’s the whole point of having a contest, where people demand to hear what people are about and what makes them tick and more importantly the capacity to lead this party in a direction that the membership want them to go in the future.”
He sought to distinguish his candidacy from Mr Varadkar’s on the basis of a more comprehensive policy base. He said Mr Varadkar had come up with a series of proposals, some costed and some uncontested, while he had laid out a paper with big ideas about the direction of Irish society.
Questioned and tested
“I want to engage with the membership fully. Whoever wins, I want them to be questioned and tested, to find out what their value system is.
“One of the biggest ideas is the concept of rebalancing Ireland to move away from the dominance of Dublin. We do not want to see commuter towns get bigger and bigger and bigger,” he said.
He said he would not “name names” about which colleagues might change their minds over the course of the next 12 days.
Asked about Mr Varadkar’s implicit criticism of his own initiative last year to provide a tax incentive to first-time housebuyers, Mr Coveney argued that before the measure was introduced in the Budget, house-builds for first-time buyers were virtually moribund. “Now there are thousands of homes being built for first-time buyers,” he said.
