The Tánaiste, Ms Mary Harney, said today Fianna Fáil's return to power was inevitable and a vote for the Progressive Democrats (PDs) was the only way to prevent them from forming a single-party government.
In her final press conference before Friday’s poll, Ms Harney repeated her claims such an arrangement would be "against ordinary people’s interests".
This is a situation that 83 per cent of all voters and 64 per cent of Fianna Fáil supporters do not want, she said, citing today's Irish Times/MRBI poll. Voters must now "pause, reflect and decide to use their votes carefully".
A single-party government becomes a "complacent" government, where policies "don’t get thought through" she claimed. She warned such a government provides opportunities for "vested interests" to excercise their influence.
She dismissed the poor showing of 2 per cent support for her party in today's poll, explaining that as the PDs only had candidates in 18 of the 42 constituencies, voters were unable to express support for her party where it was not running. She estimated a realistic support of 7 per cent.
"We are very confident the public want to see the PDs back in office," Ms Harney said, but added her party would only wish to be in government "if we can be there on a meaningful basis".
She declared last night’s TV debate to be a "draw", although she "doubted very much" if it would affect voters’ intentions. Mr Michael McDowell, the party’s candidate in Dublin South East, said it was "too loud and too late".
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