Irish PM kicks off election with focus on immigration, housing and Trump

DUBLIN: Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris on Friday (November 8) announced the official start of the country’s general election campaign, hoping to maintain his coalition’s lead in the polls and capitalize on declining support for opposition Sinn Féin.

Harris had until March to go to the polls, but she set the stage for snap elections as the €10.5 billion budget handout began hitting voters’ wallets this month. This week he confirmed that voting day would be November 29.

Left-wing Sinn Féin’s ambitions to prevent an unprecedented fourth consecutive term for Harris’ Fine Gael party looked likely a year ago, but its support has fallen sharply over the past year and its support has been further damaged by a series of internal divisions.

Taking his stand on Friday, Harris said the campaign should be about who can “credibly” increase much-needed housing supply, oversee a fair but strong immigration system and prepare for a potential transatlantic trade shock from the election of Donald Trump as US president. could hit Ireland’s finances.

“Our discussion should indeed expand in the coming weeks. So far it’s been about how you’re going to spend the money that’s available to the government,” Harris told reporters before announcing he would officially launch the election.

“The ability to spend this money determines the ability to generate it, save jobs, maintain investment and demonstrate leadership at EU level.”

According to the Irish Polling Indicator, the latest polls average Fine Gael on 24.5 per cent, with its main coalition partners Fianna Fail on 21.5 per cent and Sinn Fein on 18.5 per cent. Just a year ago, Sinn Féin had 35 percent of the vote.

Speaking to supporters late on Thursday, Sinn Féin lawmakers said it was naive to write the party off as they sought to shift attention to voters’ frustrations with unaffordable housing costs and overstretched public services.

“Simon Harris and (Fianna Fail leader) Micheal Martin think they have it all sewn up. I think the people of Ireland will have something to say about this,” said Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.

Sinn Féin needs a repeat of its stunning surge during the 2020 election campaign as it will likely have to finish well ahead of Fine Gael and Fianna Fail to cut off their path to re-election as both have vowed to govern together again without it.