Paul Hosford: Taoiseach hoping Enda Kenny's Knock appearance could signal his salvation
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If Simon Harris had awoken on Sunday suffering anything close to a crisis of confidence, and believing his party might need a miracle, his diary had him in the right place.
Not just because Knock has historical previous with healing, but because Mayo is Enda Kenny country and the former taoiseach had been tapped to introduce the Wicklow man to the party faithful who had gathered at Ireland West Airport.
The news that Fine Gael support was down four points in Sunday's opinion poll didn't seem to faze many, but the weekend's other issue did.
The Taoiseach's interaction — or lack thereof— with carer Charlotte Fallon in a Kanturk supermarket on Friday night is a worry for Fine Gael. The Taoiseach has apologised and attempted to own the situation and, in some way, make his contrition a virtue.
Too often, he said in Mayo, there are issues in campaigns, both foreign and domestic, where candidates obfuscate, equivocate, and refuse to apologise — but this was not his style.
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While the apology appears genuine and Mr Harris deserves credit for not dragging out his response — by midday Saturday he had addressed the video on social media and spoken by phone to Ms Fallon — so much about the incident could haunt Fine Gael come polling day.
Firstly, the issue at the heart of Ms Fallon's impassioned exchange with the Taoiseach was an area in which many within Government parties accept there hasn't been the kind of change they would want to see. The chair of the Oireachtas Disability Committee, Fianna Fáil TD Michael Moynihan, has consistently said as much.
Secondly, and most importantly, Fine Gaelers are troubled by what the incident says.
While among the party there is some sympathy for Mr Harris — the campaign has seen him hit nearly every constituency, wherein he has hundreds of interactions a day is a common theme — there is no pretending that Friday's exchange was and looked bad. Not just in isolation, but in the context of a Fine Gael campaign that has been beset with mis-steps.
From Michael O'Leary's comments on teachers, to CCTV of Louth candidate John McGahon, Fine Gael's election has not got going. Now, with just days left, it has to fight fires on a number of fronts.
The party has put a lot of eggs in the Harris basket. With a huge number of TDs retiring and a cadre of new candidates, this was partly unavoidable. However, it also reflected the summertime polling.
A strong showing in the local elections — losing just 10 seats after 13 years in Government is a good result, make no mistake — solidified a belief that he could lead Fine Gael to over 50 seats in this election.
As Mr Kenny was brought out to fire up the Mayo masses, he spoke passionately (his default setting, really) about how Fine Gael could win not just two, but three and maybe four seats — an achievement pulled off in 2011 as Mr Kenny was swept to office.
However, with detailed constituency maps dotted around the event, there was a reminder that this was not just a national campaign but 43 local ones too.
Mr Kenny praised the Taoiseach's "humility" in apologising for the incident with Ms Fallon, and said the four candidates were "the best Mayo team we've had".
"They may not bring back Sam, but they'll bring back Simon."
In the room, it worked. The Mayo man was greeted with loud cheers. However, away from Knock, away from Fine Gael, the public will watch the next five days of interactions closely.