If Michael Noonan was worried about the results of this morning IMS poll, published this morning in the Sunday Independent, which showed Fine Gael down by two points, he certainly wasn’t showing it.
Having cast aside his usual dark blue suit in favour of a more casual, dark blue blazer, Mr Noonan, was in fighting form as he challenged the Government to a public showdown over public spending.
Having announced that he was seriously considering heading up to the Department of Finance tomorrow afternoon the get the figures himself, he turned to the this morning’s poll and compared Irish Independent Newspapers IMS polls as looking at things "with a defective camera and a fairly foggy lense".
The poll, he said, did not reflect the feedback he was getting on the campaign trail where were "genuinely worried" about the prospects of Fianna Fail in a single-party government.
Still publicly confident that a new Rainbow Coalition would be returned to the Dail, Mr Noonan, in the same vein as the leaders of possible coalition partners, told the media that the only poll he would any attention to was the poll next Friday.
"This is not over", Mr Noonan warned, " there is still four days left."
Asked about Mary Harney’s warning yesterday over the risks of a single party government, Mr Noonan replied that the only card the PD’s had left to play was the fear card.
Following, the recent resignation of Bobby Molloy from his seat in Galway West, Mr Noonan said the PDs had yet to recover from the controversy and all they could do in present circumstances was to" frighten the public with the prospect of a Fianna Fail majority."
Asked whether he thought the PD’s in government would provide adequate protection from excesses that might committed by a Fianna Fail government, Mr Noonan promptly replied that he didn’t and compared the PD’s to a "timid little terrier" trying to watch over a larger dog.
Asked how he could ensure that building firms would comply with their obligation to 20 per cent social/affordable housing, Mr Noonan nodded ominously and said " oh we’ll ensure it, don’t worry about that. We’ll ensure it."
Heading into the last week of the general election campaign, with predications of up to 90 seats for Fianna Fail after next Friday there is all to play for, with Mr Noonan seizing the ball this afternoon.