LEO AND SIMON HEAD TO HEAD
Coveney hits back at Fine Gael rival in leadership debate
SIMON Coveney threw down the gauntlet to Leo Varadkar at last night’s leadership debate saying: “This contest starts for real.”
Pressure was on the Housing Minister with his rival having galloped into a stunning early lead. But he delivered a memorable performance warning Fine Gael faces a choice and urged members to make the one “that allows you to sleep at night”. Mr Coveney said: “Society in Ireland has lost faith in politics and each party is targeting different sectors. That is pulling society further apart.” Referencing Mr Varadkar’s early campaign motto, he added: “Why can’t somebody ask why people can’t get up in the morning? “Why don’t we ask why aren’t they motivated and what can we do to change that? The man in the sleeping bag that may never vote for us, do you not think we have a responsibility to help him?” Around 800 Fine Gael members packed in to the Merrion Suite at The Red Cow Hotel in Dublin to watch the first leadership debate, with thousands more watching online. Mr Coveney landed several blows and after his speech more than a third of the room rose to their feet. Mr Varadkar said he wanted to be “a change maker”, adding he had joined Fine Gael because it’s the party “that always wants to do the right thing, even when it’s not popular”. Borrowing a line from Mr Coveney, he spoke of the need of attracting “those who have never considered voting for us” but warned against reverting to the populism of Fianna Fail. The Social Protection Minister said he wanted to “build a new centre that can take on the extremes, be they from the hard left or the hard right”. Mr Coveney retorted helping the homeless is “not left or right”. Dragons’ Den star Gavin Duffy played the role of mediator, comparing the first of four face-offs to a professional boxing match. And Mr Coveney struck when his opponent seemed to suffer amnesia over his last ministerial portfolio. After Mr Varadkar said he would “get really interested in health” if made leader, he responded: “If I have the opportunity to be Taoiseach, I’m going to remember Leo has unfinished business in health.”
Why can’t we ask why people do not get up in the morning? SIMON COVENEY DUBLIN LAST NIGHT We need to build a new centre that can take on the extreme left or right LEO VARADKAR DUBLIN LAST NIGHT