Fine Gael leadership rivals ramp up criticism at final hustings

Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar mounted personalised and direct criticisms of each other in last night's tense final hustings of the Fine Gael leadership battle ahead of the start of voting on Monday.

Mr Varadkar accused Mr Coveney of being divisive and dishonest, and Mr Coveney suggested that under Mr Varadkar’s leadership, the party would drift to the right.

In the last of the four hustings held by the party, before some 800 people in Cork last night, the two candidates escalated the tenor of their criticism of each other.

Mr Varadkar in particular questioned Mr Coveney’s record of achievement and criticised Mr Coveney for his attacks on him.

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In exchanges before a clearly partisan crowd, Mr Coveney also asserted that under Mr Varadkar the party would drift to the right and its “just society” tradition would be lost.

Mr Varadkar said his record as Minister for Health and Minister for Social Protection demonstrated he could prove compassion by deed, and not by passionate speech.

“I’m not sure that Simon can match that record in terms of actions and completion.

“These are the things I do for people. What is the actual thing that Simon will do for people in his speeches?” He continued. “I don’t want to get rid of the USC. Simon is saying I am bringing party to the right. How is that possibly a right-wing party?”

Internal criticism

In a clear reference to Mr Coveney, Mr Varadkar talked about internal criticism. “There are enough people out there doing that without us turning on one another.”

Mr Coveney said Mr Varadkar offered “a shift to the right of the party . . . very different from my vision of the party is where we create a just society . . . where everybody, rich or poor, council house or mansion, you all matter to us.”

His second line of attack was on Mr Varadkar’s promise to represent the people who get up early in the morning by saying that he will build an inclusive society that will leave nobody out.

Mr Varadkar retains a commanding lead over his rival, according to The Irish Times' tracker of the voting intentions of Oireachtas members and councillors.

Mr Varadkar has the declared support of some 46 per cent of the votes available, against 22 per cent for Mr Coveney.

He leads comfortably amongst the declared members of the parliamentary party – who make up 65 per cent of the votes which will decide the leader – and amongst the party’s 230 councillors, who make up 10 per cent of the votes.

Mr Varadkar has the support of 109 councillors, to Mr Coveney’s 66. The remaining 59 councillors have not declared their allegiance.

Popular vote

Supporters of Mr Coveney, however, are optimistic that their candidate can turn a number of votes in the parliamentary party and can win the popular vote amongst party members.

They concede privately, however, that overhauling Mr Varadkar’s lead remains an “uphill struggle” but have been buoyed by Mr Coveney’s strong performance in the debates.

A member of Mr Coveney’s campaign said yesterday that his team was “having conversations” with a number of declared Varadkar supporters in a bid to win their votes, though he said they were not expecting them to declare openly.

A member of Mr Varadkar’s team rejected the idea that his supporters were wavering, though he conceded that one or two TDs may switch their vote.

However, he said that the idea that the contest was turning in Mr Coveney’s favour was entirely unsupported by any evidence.

Voting takes place for 12 constituencies and for Fine Gael members in Brussels this evening . Voting is staggered for members and councillors across the country for the next four nights.

On Friday morning, members of the parliamentary party will cast their votes in Dublin and the votes will then be counted, with a winner declared in the early evening.