Taoiseach's election dance rolls on as John McGahon controversy provides unwelcome background noise
Taoiseach Simon Harris took to the campaign trail in Kildare and Laois on Wednesday while the John McGahon controversy continued to whittle away in the background
Taoiseach Simon Harris shook his head, saying no.
One of the journalists was twirling around their finger, encouraging him to join the ballet performance at McAuley Place in Naas, Co Kildare. So far on the campaign trail, the Fine Gael leader has Irish danced and jived. Apparently, ballet isn’t within his gift.
He was not willing to join in with the six and seven-year-old girls in pink and blue tutus whose class had been interrupted by his canvass. “I’ve been to many ballet recitals with my little girl,” the Taoiseach said. “I’ve never participated.”
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The community hall where the dance class was taking place was a 53-bed facility that provided an “alternative to institutional residential care for older persons and a model that would create a society for all ages”.
One resident said that even if she won the lotto, she would not want to move out. She did, however, say that the paths needed to be fixed for her walker. No issue is too big or too small, it would appear.
As the Taoiseach spoke to the media outside, one person attempted to interrupt the press conference, stating that they wanted to ask him a question. Inside the facility, she wanted to talk to him about vulture funds, which she said are being "incentivised to buy up the homes in this country”.
“The austerity people of the past, why they just can’t hold on to their homes,” she said. “They’re 60 or 70 and they’re losing their homes to vulture funds. The topic is off the table. Hopefully, when you’re back in the Dáil, you will give time for a debate on what is happening with the mortgage finance of the future, which is now in the hands of vulture funds.” Mr Harris said that “of course, he is very happy to have a Dáil debate in relation to the issues”.
Firstly, however, he will have to make sure he is back in the Dáil. With eight days left to polling day, the Harris-hop tour of the country rolls on. However, the John McGahon controversy continues to dog Fine Gael after what was already a ropey enough start to the campaign.
Speaking to the media in Naas, Mr Harris indicated he would canvass with him in Louth. Mr McGahon has found himself in the headlines in recent days following the publication of photographs in the Sunday Times of injuries allegedly suffered by a farmer, Breen White, during a late-night altercation with the Senator outside a Louth pub. A criminal trial found him not guilty, but he was found liable for damages in a civil proceeding.
“I'm quite sure he'll be out canvassing in Louth, asking people in his constituency who know him very well to support him,” he said. “I will be in Louth before the election. My schedule hasn't been finalised, but he is a Fine Gael candidate in the general election.”
It was put to Mr Harris that Mr McGahon had not been subjected to an internal Fine Gael disciplinary process following the alleged assault. The Taoiseach said that “the courts of this country trump internal processes”.
He also took aim at Sinn Féin upon learning that the party had been refusing to share Mary Lou McDonald’s canvassing schedule with the media. He was once again highly critical of their decision to suggest that a review into RTÉ’s foreign coverage should be commissioned. “It might be RTÉ today. Will it be the Mirror tomorrow?” he questioned.
From Naas, he travelled to Laois to visit the Mountmellick Development Association. On the whistlestop tour, he visited a factory that, among other things, produces pumps for the coffee machines in petrol stations.
“How long have you been working here?” Mr Harris asked. “We’re here longer than you’re on this earth,” one of the workers replied.
In the late-night creche on the grounds of the industrial estate, there was just one child waiting to be picked up. She wasn’t dancing. The two-year-old tot looked overwhelmed as the Harris delegation piled into the small room. She was waiting to be picked up shortly before 6.30pm, delirious after a day of playing.
Mr Harris was experiencing a different kind of delirium. He planned to head back to Wicklow to canvass, maybe Bray, he suggested. With the election just days away, he won’t be able to shake his finger and say no to them.
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