Fianna Fáil ministers to kick off local election blitz
Jack Local Preparation Director Fianna Election Local Elections 'we Chambers: Are Picture: Clive Of Up Fáil Ramping ' Wasson File
Fianna Fáil is kicking off a local election blitz with ministers being sent to canvass target constituencies in the first of a series of days of action.
Micheál Martin’s party is launching a major offensive to take on the threat of Sinn Féin and is now aiming to both retain its number of local councillors and gain more seats in specific local authority areas.
All senior members of the party are to canvass alongside selected local election candidates in areas that have been identified as strategically significant.
The Tánaiste is expected to take part in the day of canvassing in both Dublin’s north and south inner city.
Ministers will also be sent to areas outside of their own constituencies and have been asked to take part in campaigning for around six hours, with a focus on building grassroots backing and getting members out on the doors.
It is understood that areas in Cork, Galway, Tipperary, Wicklow, Waterford, and Dublin will be targeted in the first day, with other areas visited in the coming weeks and months.
Fianna Fáil’s director of local elections, Minister of State Jack Chambers, said: “We are ramping up local election preparation in terms of candidate selection, we have opened up the nomination process in 70% of local election areas and 40% of candidates have already been selected. But we are going to accelerate that in July and over the autumn.”
The aim of the operation — which will be repeated on an ongoing basis as local election campaigning gears up — is to get prominent members of the party out around the country and into areas outside their own constituencies.
It comes after Fianna Fáil ministers, junior ministers, and party advisers recently met to discuss strategy around the local and European elections as well as wider budget strategy.
In tandem with this, work on drafting a local election manifesto, which was discussed at the meeting, is also underway.
While support for Sinn Féin is down in the latest poll, Mary Lou McDonald’s party is still expected to take seats from all of the main political parties in next year’s local elections.
However, the has reported that Sinn Féin has been struggling to convince enough candidates to run in some areas in next year’s elections.
The latest opinion poll, published in the on Sunday, shows a five-point drop in support for Sinn Féin, which now stands at 29%.
The survey of voters, which was carried out last Wednesday, puts Fine Gael on 22%, a jump of two points.
Fianna Fáil is also up by one percentage point to 16%.
Independents and others are up two points to 13%, while both Labour and the Social Democrats are each on 5% support.
The Green Party remains unchanged on 4%.
People Before Profit-Solidarity also remain static on 3%.