HERE’S THE FIGHTBACK... BUT IS IT TOO LITTLE AND TOO LATE?

SIMON COVENEY had it all to do last night, a dark horse at the Red Cow, trying not to slip even further behind the favourite. He did enough to keep it interesting.

After the first in a series of four successive hustings around the country, the Minister for Housing had made up some ground by talking tough – and painting himself unmistakably as being on the Left of the party.

Mr Coveney wore his heart on his sleeve as he spoke about the man in the sleeping bag on Grafton Street – and by asking party members to make a choice about the leadership that would enable them to sleep at night.

It was an attempt to portray Mr Varadkar as a dangerous Trumpstyle figure, and if the comparison was a bit crude (and wide of the mark), it was nonetheless a plank that could serve as a wedge to lever him back into the race.

The Minister for Housing sought to dog-whistle the idea that Mr Varadkar was uncaring, having been born with a silver spoon in his mouth as the son of a doctor in leafy Castleknock. (The irony of this, from a man born into colossal wealth and privilege, was not dwelt on!) He referred to his own efforts to ensure mixed-occupancy in housing estates, so no child would go to school ‘with a label on its back’.

Mr Coveney also sneered at Mr Varadkar’s slick campaign – which he admitted had left him in its wake over the last 48 hours. He suggested that Leo had been preparing ‘for the last twelve months,’ further conveying an image of a man obsessed with the cult of personality.

In the punishing heat of the hotel room, under bright lights, the two men shed their jackets to compete in shirt sleeves.

But it was mainly in terms of oratory, which both contenders at pains to agree with each other as much as possible, and to promise to patch up their differences when the votes are counted by working together for the good of the party. A question about the religious ownership of the National Maternity Hospital brought a declaration from Mr Coveney that a lot of people were rightly concerned with the new facility being in state ownership, which he believed was a given. He expressed confidence in his main backer, Health Minister Simon Harris, to sort it out.

Mr Varadkar agreed on state ownership on a night when the supporters of Mr Coveney seemed marginally more vocal, as if responding to his complaint that the contest is not exclusively about the parliamentary party. Now there are just three nights in which to turn things around.

Mr Coveney wore a red tie, aimed at drawing attention, while Leo opted for Fine Gael

blue. It was also, perhaps, a metaphor for their space on the spectrum, with Simon more to the left and Leo portrayed as drawn to the opposite pole.

As if in confirmation, Leo said he had the same annoyance and disappointment as ordinary people in relation to not enough people being pursued for white collar crime, or fraud in general ‘whether it’s welfare fraud, tax fraud, or corporate fraud, it is not acceptable.’

Mr Coveney said the FitzPatrick trial had collapsed because of mismanagement by the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement.

‘We need to fix it. That brings me on to a piece of legislation I published this week – to set up a permanent, independent anti-corruption commission.’

Eoin Dowling asked the candidates about preventing any terrorist attack on Irish soil.

‘We have had terrorism in Ireland, and even though we have left the Troubles behind, we cannot assume we are immune.’

Mr Coveney said the Manchester outrage had put a lot of things in perspective. ‘People were thinking about this debate, while across the sea there were people wondering if a teenage girl would pull through. Can I reassure you: there are many plans in place,’ the ex-Defence Minister said.

‘It’s not something I can talk about in detail, or that we should in a public forum.

‘But let’s not turn this country into a police state.’

The encounter eventually wound down in a welter of words, Mr Coveney slipping back into longwindedness.

The Cork man will have to come out fighting hard in the coming nights.