Sinn Fein leader loses ground in final debate

SINN FÉIN’S surge in popularity in the run-up to Saturday’s Irish general election was dealt a blow by the faltering performance of the party’s president in the final leaders’ debate.

In Tuesday night’s event, which also involved the leaders of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, Mary Lou Mcdonald stumbled badly on questions relating to her party’s position on the special criminal court and key economic policies, as well as a murder linked to the IRA.

Sinn Féin has risen in the polls over the past few weeks in the south of Ireland, partly as a result of Ms Mcdonald’s exclusion from previous leaders’ debates. It helped Sinn Féin to present itself as the party of change, which has resonated with voters looking for an alternative to the Fianna Fáil-fine Gael duopoly that has dominated Irish politics since the foundation of the state.

An opinion poll released on Monday had put Sinn Féin in first place on 25 per cent with Fianna Fáil on 23 per cent and Fine Gael on 20 per cent.

Sinn Féin’s support had risen on the back of its manifesto which has pledged a large spending spree over the next five years. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have described Sinn Féin’s proposals as “dangerous”, and during the debate the leaders of both parties focused on specific tax and spending plans.

Ms Mcdonald also struggled on her proposed house-building programme, climate-change policies and tax-raising measures.

But the most damaging encounter of the evening for the Sinn Féin leader related to a murder allegedly committed by the IRA in 2007.

Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach and leader of Fine Gael, and Micheál Martin, the leader of Fianna Fáil, used the opportunity to grill the Sinn Féin leader on the party’s links to the IRA.