An upbeat Mary Lou McDonald has welcomed the latest Irish Times/B&A Ipsos poll and said the drop in support for Fine Gael and a boost for Sinn Féin showed the momentum was with her party.
The poll put Fianna Fáil on 21 per cent (up two points). Sinn Féin were on 20 per cent (up one); and Fine Gael were down six on 19 per cent.
She said it was clear “there is momentum now in the campaign” adding that it would “intensify in the coming days”.
Speaking at a press event in the Deaf Village in her own constituency in Cabra, she said when the campaign had started Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil thought they would be “just waltzing back into Government Buildings. They thought that their pathway was very clear. That’s not the case ... it’s very much game on for this election”.
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[ The Irish Times/Ipsos B&A November 25th poll: the full results in chartsOpens in new window ]
Ms McDonald said Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin “seems to be intent on putting Fine Gael back in government. That would make their term in government 19 years long. I think the Irish people increasingly view that prospect with dread.”
In advance of Tuesday’s leader’s debate between her, Mr Martin and Mr Harris, it was suggested the leaders of the two other parties would “tag team” her and she responded “let’s see how they get on with that”.
She noted that she had already effectively called for a voting pact between left-leaning parties. “If you want a change in government, Sinn Féin can lead an alternative government. We’re asking people to vote for us on that basis, we are also saying to people to transfer their votes thereafter to others who similarly want to see that change..”
Ms McDonald also repeated her call for homeless figures due out on Friday be released early. “We know that we have had a crisis in long term homelessness on [Darragh O’Brien’s} watch and we are looking for transparency.”
She also expressed confidence Sinn Féin’s plans for more affordable housing would not be stymied by banks refusing to lend to lower income borrowers.
The party has pledged to deliver affordable housing for eligible purchasers at prices of €250,000-€300,000 with the State retaining ownership of the land the homes are built on and conditions on the sale and rent of the property.
She said Eoin Ó Broin and Pearse Doherty met the banks on a number of occasions and suggested that it was unsurprising they would have “requirements to lend into any new affordable housing scheme, we’re very confident that we can meet those requirements.
“The crux of their concern is, in the event of a default, they want to be sure that they will get their capital back, not an unreasonable proposition ... so we have made clear to them that in an eventuality like that ... they will have first call and they will get their money back.”
She was upbeat about the economic prospects for the State and downplayed the impact of a Trump presidency.
“We’re not envisaging the economy tanking. I think good government is all about navigating risk for sure but it is also about confidently developing your prosperity and your economy.’
Ms McDonald said a “Trump presidency is a reality [and] whoever is in government, there has to be constructive engagement. Irish economic interests have to be protected”.
She said that while it was important to be “alive to the threats we shouldn’t be talking up a doomsday scenario”.
The biggest risks to the Irish economy were housing and infrastructure and suggested that “rather than talking up doomsday scenarios that we actually deal with the risk that we have now”.
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