Fine Gael aiming for three seats
by Danielle Harney Updated: Friday, 18th February, 2011 2:00pm
With one week to go until polling day, Fine Gael believes the momentum behind its lead in the polls will help the party to secure three seats in Laois/Offaly.
The party is now aiming to win an overall majority in the Dáil and lead a single party government for the first time ever in its history.
It is aiming to elect Offaly-based candidates Marcella Corcoran Kennedy and Liam Quinn as well as Deputy Charlie Flanagan.
"Business people and farmers are all going mad to get us into power. They want a stable government to go in on their own for five years," said Cllr Tommy McKeigue.
"If we continue on as we are, we'll get three seats... This weekend is vital, we need to keep the momentum going."
Cllr McKeigue said that the party plan to bring home three candidates with a voter share of around 39% in keeping with the current national trend. This translates into around 8 or 9,000 first preference votes per candidate.
He said that the momentum has been building since the party started the campaign and that many traditional Fianna Fáil voters are turning to Fine Gael for this election, which he said, proved that the party's national 'Lend us your vote' campaign was working.
In reference to Fianna Fáil's massive voter share of 56% in 2007, Cllr McKeigue said that was due to the "Cowen factor" because people knew that he was Taoiseach-in-waiting. And the councillor believed that Fine Gael's leader is now enjoying a boost in popularity.
"Concerns regarding Enda Kenny are dead. They have died down since he took part in the debates," he added.
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