Europe Decides

As predicted on our last post the whiff of scandal has if anything increased Fianna Fail’s support with Fianna Fail bouncing back by 2% after a week of a campaign that could charitably be called lackluster if not downright lame. Fine Gael the main opposition party lost support while Labour their partners gained support.

As we move into next week the Government parties must regain the initiative, draw a line under the Bertigate issue and move the focus onto the economy. If this election is fought on public services the Government stands to lose. If however it is fought on the economy the Government stands a good chance of winning.

So far the economy has not been an issue, the spate of multi-national jobs losses which occurred a few months ago appear to have been forgotten by the public though consumer confidence has taken a battering. Even though Fianna Fail has seen its support the Progressive Democrats ( my old employers ) are trailing badly in the polls and according to some political correspondents now have no safe seats. The PDs are a small niche party who do not contest every constituency and their support is difficult to measure in a national poll. However they have been written off in every election since their founding and I have a suspicion that they will once more defy their critics. However they are in deeply uncomfortable territory and they will need to draw on the considerable reserves of intelligence and character if they are to weather the storm that now threatens them