Tag Archives: Fine Gael

This evening.

Phibblestown Community Centre, Dublin 15.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar arriving at the Dublin West count centre where Sinn Fein’s  Paul Donnelly topped the poll ahead of the embattled Fine Gael leader, who said he would not enter talks with Sinn Féin to form a government.

Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

This evening.

Phibblestown Community Centre, Dublin 15.

Paul Donnelly and his mother Bridie and Sinn Fein supporters celebrate his win.

Rollingnews

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar addresses media outside Clare FM this morning

This morning…

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Clare FM that he would fight to remain as leader of Fine Gael if his party performs poorly in the election tomorrow.

Breakingnews reports:

Mr Varadkar also revealed he would fight to retain leadership of Fine Gael in the event of his party losing the general election.

Under party rules, he would have to submit himself to a confidence vote.

“If that were to happen, I would ask to stay on as party leader and lead the Opposition, and be ready to pick up the pieces in five years’ time after Fianna Fail do to the country what they usually do,” he said.

Varadkar predicts ‘real difficulty’ to form a Government after election (Breakingnews)

Meanwhile…

This morning.

Fine Gael General Election HQ.

Leo Varadkar’s possible successor Minister for Finance Pascahl Donohoe said he fully supported the taoiseach referring to the fact that he has spent more time with him during the General Election 2020 campaign than he has with his wife.

Rollingnews

Meanwhile…

June, 2010

Following the failed leadership ‘heave’ by Fine Gael’s Richard Bruton and days after the party’s then leader Enda Kenny sacked Mr Bruton from his role as Deputy Leader and Spokesperson on Finance…

And after a poll showed Fine Gael slipping and Labour to be the most popular party in Ireland for the first time ever…

Leo Varadkar spoke out against Mr Kenny telling RTÉ’s Prime Time:

“It’s not that I’ve lost confidence in him, it’s that the public doesn’t have confidence in him. And unfortunately that’s the truth and that’s something that we all know, it’s something that you know. And I have to ask myself that key question, the 3am question…who do I want to answer that phone…”

Good days.

Previously: Keeping The Head

Pics: Clare FM

Today’s Irish Times

In today’s Irish Times.

A full-page ad for Fine Gael sits on page five of the newspaper, alongside the newspaper’s general election coverage.

Meanwhile…

Speaking of placement…

Sigh.

Election 2020 outtakes: SF candidate takes a break from it all (Mark Hilliard, The Irish Times)

From top Taoiseach Leo Varadkar leaving Marconi House after an interview with Newstalk’s Pat Kenny this morning. Michael Noonan with Paschal Donohoe in 2017

This morning.

Via Newstalk:

Mr Varadkar said he doesn’t feel undermined by Michael Noonan backing Paschal Donohoe to be the Fine Gael leader.

Mr Noonan – who is not running for re-election – told Independent.ie’s Floating Voter podcast that it’s an open secret he wanted Donohoe to replace Enda Kenny.

The intervention comes with Leo Varadkar under pressure as polls ahead of the election show support for the party falling.

The Taoiseach, however, denied that he felt undermined by the intervention – saying Mr Noonan also said on the podcast that Mr Varadkar has been a ‘great Taoiseach’.

The Fine Gael leader said: “I can see how people will try to make a bigger story out of it than it is.

No finer endorsement.

Varadkar: Time Has Come For Sinn Féin Tp Openly Support The Special Criminal Court (Newstalk)

Noonan backs Donohoe to be Fine Gael leader as pressure mounts on Varadkar (Independent.ie)

Meanwhile..

Um.

Rollingnews

This morning.

Fine Gael Generel Election HQ.

Above from left: Minister for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Fine Gael Director of Elections, Paschal Donohoe, Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, Fine Gael candidate for Laois-Offaly, and member of the Oireachtas Committee on Climate and Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Bruton set out their party’s climate action plans .

OF recent polls, Mr Donohoe said:

“Fianna Fail are putting forward their worst hits of their recent past and what Sinn Fein are offering is the kind of ideas that will do such harm to workers income, to wages and to their jobs.

“They have claimed they are going to put forward new ideas for investment involving 15 different tax hikes – tax hikes that would be bad for those at work, tax hikes that would be bad for those looking to create jobs.”

Meanwhile….


This morning.

Fianna Fáil General Election 2020 HQ, Dublin.

Fianna Fáil Finance Spokesperson Michael McGrath (above left) and Health Spokesperson Stephen Donnelly begin the last week of the General Election campaign.

Of Sinn Fein’s poll rise, Mr McGrath said:

“In the real world, people change their behaviour, they make investment decisions depending on the change in taxation and enterprise landscape in the country.

“Sinn Fein want to make this a very cold place for business. They want to tax employment through increasing PRSI (Pay Related Social Insurance), they want to tax people over 100,000 euro under the pretence that won’t affect anybody below 100,000 euro.”

RollingNews

This morning.

Dublin Port.

A Brexit/General Election 2020 visit by, above from left Minister for Finance and Expenditure Paschal Donohue, Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee, Mairead McGuinness MEP and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney .

Tonight at 11pm Britain will leave the EU.

Earlier: A Limerick A Day

Sam Boal/Rollingenws

Yesterday evening (5.30pm).

Senator Catherine Noone’s campaign headquarters in Sutton, Dublin 13.

Last Friday, Ms Noone described Taoiseach Leo Varadkar as “autistic” while she was being questioned by Times Ireland journalist Brian Mahon about his performance on the Virgin Media One head-to-head debate with Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin.

Via Christian Morris

Meanwhile…

Last night.

Fiach Kelly, in The Irish Times, reported that Fine Gael had decided to “pause”  the constituency voting tactic between Minister for Communications Richard Bruton and Ms Noone, who is his running mate.

However, Mr Bruton, on Virgin Media One’s The Tonight Show subsequently said this was not the case.

(Mick Caul is a campaign volunteer for the Social Democrats)

Mr Kelly then reported that Fine Gael did a U-turn….

…with Mr Bruton even claiming suggestions of a pause in the divide were a “fabrication”. Sources afterwards said the publication of an Irish Times report had caused internal controversy and prompted the U-turn.

The earlier decision came after a series of meetings between Ms Noone and senior party figures, such as Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe who is Fine Gael’s director of elections, and Tom Curran, the general secretary.

Ms Noone is understood to have asked she be given the opportunity to explain herself in a broadcast media interview.

It is understood Mr Donohoe and Mr Curran decided against putting Ms Noone out on the national airwaves.

Fine Gael performs U-turn on Catherine Noone’s voting pact (Fiach Kelly, The Irish Times)

Previously: Not Literally [Updated]

Top pic: Padraig O’Reilly

This afternoon.

At the European Parliament in Brussels.

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage waves the Union Jack as he delivers his farewell speech to the parliament before he gets cut off for disobeying the rules.

Fine Gael’s Mairéad McGuinness, vice-president of the parliament, tells him “goodbye” and reminds him to take his flags with him.

Earlier: Britain On The Brink

Previously: He Is Among Us

“I’ve Yet To Hear A Single Person Mention It”