Tánaiste Simon Harris has denied that Heather Humphreys can no longer win the presidential election or that the gap to Catherine Connolly is unbridgeable.
Mr Harris said many Labour supporters would be “horrified” at the prospect of Ms Connolly in the Áras, while he appealed to Fianna Fáil and other voters to consider who was most closely aligned to their own position.
The Humphreys campaign would be “asking Middle Ireland to lend us their vote” Mr Harris said.
Asked if the Fine Gael candidate could not now win, Mr Harris claimed 49pc of public support was still available to be won.
Speaking at Farmleigh in Dublin, where he is attending a North-South Ministerial Council meeting, Mr Harris said: “Not at all. Heather Humphreys’ campaign is growing day by day in terms of the number of people from outside the Fine Gael campaign and family that are backing her.”
He added: “I think that’s something that’s not much discussed. I hear a lot of reference to Heather Humphreys as the Fine Gael candidate, which she is, but she’s also the candidate that’s now backed by a number of members of the Labour Party, a number of members of the Green Party, a number of members of the Fianna Fáil party, including the Taoiseach and the former Fianna Fáil taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, many Independent TDs, Michael Healy Rae, Seán Canney, Marian Harkin, and many Independent councillors as well.
“We saw in the last opinion poll, there’s lots of people who are looking at the presidential ballot, and they’re saying, ‘I thought there would be more choice’.
“And of course, for a whole variety of reasons that didn’t come to pass. Now we’re getting to a stage where this day week, people will have a binary choice to make between two female candidates, two good people, but two good people with a very different view of our country.”
Mr Harris continued: “I think a lot of people are thinking this through very carefully. And I think they might be saying, ‘Well, who is most closely aligned with my views?’
“And that’s very much why we’re in the space of asking Middle Ireland to lend us their vote.”
Asked as an experienced politician if he accepted that the gap is now unbridgeable, Mr Harris replied: “Not at all. People probably thought Seán Gallagher was going to be president, because that’s what all the polls and that’s what all the pundits thought as well [in the 2011 contest].
“But what I do hope is that we have a good turnout. I think that’s really important. And I think there’s a lot of people who are civic minded, who’ve never missed a vote in their life, but they might be sitting at home this weekend saying ‘I’m still not sure which way to go’.
“I would say to them two things, please vote. And secondly, on reflection, and on balance, I hope you’ll find Heather Humphreys to be the candidate most closely aligned with your presidential preference.”
Mr Harris said it was “quite astonishing, the surface level analysis of the opinion poll that we saw published in recent days”.
There some very stark figures there, he insisted.
“Almost 50pc of the electorate not yet sure in terms of the candidate. I think 49pc are saying they’re not really sure on either candidate. That’s a very big number,” Mr Harris said.
“Quite a lot of undecideds, quite a lot of people are saying they’re not going to vote. And I think there’s a job for all of us in public life, all of us who are civic minded, all of us who value our democracy, to say that the last week of this campaign really needs everybody to get engaged.
“The Irish people take their vote extremely seriously. And I think when push comes to shove and people think this through in the next number of days, they’re going to say, ‘Okay, I might be a Fianna Fáil voter, and I was hoping for an FF candidate. That didn’t happen’.
“They might be a Labour voter, but I’m horrified that they’re backing Catherine Connolly. She was somebody who rallied against us for years and years and didn’t support Michael D Higgins but supported Gemma O’Doherty. I couldn’t bring myself to vote for her.’”
Mr Harris added: “Then they’re saying, ‘Who will I vote for?’ And I think, as they look through that, I think that’s a good opportunity for Heather Humphreys, because Catherine Connolly is not the successor to Michael D Higgins.
“She actually left the Labour Party over Michael D Higgins and indeed nominated Gemma O’Doherty to be our president.”
Senan Molony
