Fine Gael to ‘target’ Cavan seat in next election
Fine Gael is set to "target" Cavan with the hope of gaining an extra seat in the Dáil next general election.
With hopes of wresting the gains claimed in 2020 by Sinn Féin and even Fianna Fáil, party leader and Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, made the comments during a visit to the county last week.
Despite an additional seat up for grabs two years ago, Fine Gael failed to secure any meaningful momentum in Cavan. With three candidates last time out they polled lower overall than with two candidates they fielded in 2016.
"It’s great to have Joe Reilly in the Senate, but I’d love to have a TD for Cavan as well. It will be one of our target constituencies next time round," said the former Taoiseach and current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
While boundary changes, which will be decided next year, might alter the direction of that strategy, Minister Varadkar said: "We’re very keen. Cavan-Monaghan is on our list for a gain."
Fianna Fáil is set to hand back the office of Taoiseach to Fine Gael on December 15, under terms agreed between the two and the Green Party under the current programme for government.
However, Minister Varadkar insists he's "focusing on the job I have now" instead of looking too far ahead.
Continuing the apparent thaw in relations between the two traditional political rivals, the Tánaiste suggested that his government colleague and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was doing a "good job" as Taoiseach.
"I’m very much behind him in the work that he’s doing and I think it’s important to respect that."
He rules out too the chance of calling a snap General Election in the next 12 months, saying that dragging people to the polls early is "highly unlikely".
"This is the third coalition I’ve had the pleasure to be a member of. People didn’t think Fine Gael-Labour one would last full term. It did. No one thought the minority government would last four years, and it did, and I believe this government can last full term. We have a working majority in the Dáil and we are all focused on doing what’s right by the country."