Election 2024 Day 7: On the road again… doorsteps, hustings and a much-anticipated poll

Election 2024 Day 7: On the road again... doorsteps, hustings and a much-anticipated poll General Election 2024 campaign is well under way... follow all the news and views from the Irish Independent on each day of the campaign right here

The general election campaign of 2024 is in full swing.

With less than three weeks until the country heads to the polls, it will be a short but hard fought campaign as parties and Independents attempt to fill as many of the 160 Dáil seats as possible.

Eoghan Moloney

Constituency profiles

Want to know who is running in your constituency in the upcoming election? Click on your county and you will be brought to a profile revealing all of the candidates there. Try it here: Eoghan Moloney

Irish Independent's VoteSmart tool

First things first. If you are unsure who to vote for in the upcoming election, why not use our VoteSmart tool which will ask you a series of questions and match you to the party or candidate that best aligns with your views. Check it out here:Eoghan Moloney

Goodnight, folks!

A quieter evening on the political front, as we approach the final 14 days of the 2024 General Election campaign. Keep an eye on the Irish Independent on Thursday morning as we have an interview with the leader of a major political party which includes some interesting talking points.. Amy BlaneyThe Evening Tally: After almost half a decade in bed together, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are trying to convince us they barely know each other Having spent nearly five years in bed together, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael are now trying to convince voters they barely know each other. Finance Minister and budding future Fianna Fáil leader Jack Chambers took no prisoners on Virgin Media's The Tonight Show. He blamed fellow panellist Hildegarde Naughton for "misrepresenting" his views and said Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe was now being "disingenuous" in his criticism of the Fianna Fáil manifesto. Read the full story here: Amy BlaneySurge in people registering to vote More than 100,000 people registered to vote online since the Dáil was dissolved on Friday, with a surge of almost 55,000 new voter applications in the two days before the register closed last night ahead of the general election.Over 21,000 applications to update existing details on the register were made online in the final 48 hours before the final deadline. There were 115,130 new voter applications made since the start of November, with more than 420,000 new applications to register made since the beginning of this year. The Chief Executive for the Electoral Commission Art O'Leary said staff are "working flat out" to update the register ahead of polling day and urged voters to now take time to consider their local candidates. - Maeve McTaggartAmy BlaneyRichard Boyd Barrett accuses Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael of 'chipping away' at Ireland's neutrality People Before Profit leader Richard Boyd Barrett has said Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have been "chipping away" at Ireland's neutrality. Mr Boyd Barrett was speaking at the launch of the party's neutrality policy where he accused the government parties of wanting to drag Ireland into geo-political conflict. "I think when you look at what's happening around the world, there is a real danger," Mr Boyd Barrett said. "The fact, we're seeing in front of our eyes, a terrifying, in my opinion, military escalation of geopolitical conflict around the world and I think Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael want to drag us into that," he added. The party leader added that it was Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's "agenda" to make Ireland a party of EU militarisation but that the Irish people have made it clear they want the country to remain neutral. "There's a standoff between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael's drive to erode our neutrality, involve ourselves in EU militarisation, and the people of this country, in their overwhelming majority, being deeply committed to our tradition of neutrality," Mr Boyd Barret said. "So I think it's a political question as to where that's going to go, and that's why for me, there are many reasons to get rid of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael but one of the reasons is because they are trying to undermine systematically on an ongoing basis, Ireland's neutrality," he added. Mr Boyd Barrett said while there is a lot of discussion around the challenges of security in the 21st century but said it was dangerous for Ireland to be seen to be aligned with NATO and believed neutrality is the best option for the country to protect itself. Read the full story here by Tabitha MonahanAmy BlaneyFianna Fáil's plan to reduce vacancy and dereliction Fianna Fáil's Darragh O'Brien launched the party's plan to reduce vacancy and dereliction across the country, which includes a €100,000 grant for Above the Shop Living, which would go towards converting spaces about shops for accomodation. The minister has previously said the retention of the Help-to-Buy scheme would be a red line issue for government formation talks. The Greens during their election manifesto said they were introduce changes to the scheme which would be price caps on the eligible homes, depending on where in the country they are located. However, Mr O'Brien said while he wanted to see more detail on the Green Party's proposals to the scheme, he said there was no need for changes to the scheme. "Help-to-Buy grant has been really successful, and it works for people, and I don't believe there's any need to change it in the manner in which the Green Party have put forward," Mr O'Brien said."Not even a week into the campaign, before people have even voted, I think drawing red lines at this stage might not be helpful. Just to say this, I wouldn't support any changes to the Help to Buy that are going to reduce the access that people would have to buy their own home," he added. - Tabitha MonahanAmy BlaneyFuture Government will have to 'very carefully' consider Citizens Assembly recommendation to decriminalise drugs, says Justice Minister Any future Government will have to "very carefully" consider the Citizens Assembly recommendation to decriminalise drugs, according to outgoing Justice Minister Helen McEntee.Outgoing Justice Minister Helen McEntee said Fianna Fáil need to put forward a more detailed policy as its manifesto does not clarify which drugs should be decriminalised.Fianna Fáil's Jack Chambers said it would not be Class A drugs which would be decriminalised and instead said it would be drugs such as cannabis.However, previous Fine Gael Drugs Ministers have pushed for stopping people caught with a small amount of drugs for personal use ending up in the criminal justice system.Minister McEntee said Fianna Fáil didn't specify which drugs would be decriminalised - but it was put to the Minister that Minister Hildegarde Naughton earlier this year also didn't specify which drugs she was referring to when speaking about people caught with their possession not ending up in the criminal justice system."What we don't want is a situation where somebody ends up in the criminal justice system, and that maybe for just a small amount of drug possession; and that just sets their life on a trajectory that could have gone another way," Minister Naughton said in January.A Citizen's Assembly on Drugs recommended drugs should be decriminalised.However, Fine Gael has now said Governments should be careful in how they implement the recommendations of the Assembly.Read the full story here, by Gabija GataveckaiteDenise Calnan'Runaway train rents' Irish Independent's Ralph Riegel is reporting from Cork North West constituency today: Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald warned that Ireland's rental market was now "a runaway train." The Dublin TD - speaking as she canvassed the Cork North West constituency - vowed that her party will cut rents and impose a three year ban on any rent increases if in Government in the 34th Dáil. "The rental market is now a runaway train," she warned. "Rents are spiralling out of control all across the state. It is particularly bad here in Munster with rents up 20pc in Limerick in a year to a staggering level of an average of €2221 a month. "Rents in Cork City have risen by 10pc to €2,077 a month. This cannot continue. People cannot afford rents at this level and have a decent quality of life or plan for the future. "These runaway rents are pushing many workers and families to the brink and many of our young people are now heading to the airports in search of opportunity and a better life in Australia and Canada." She vowed that, if in Government, Sinn Féin will cut rent to offer one month of rent back to renters - and will ban rent increases for three years. Sinn Féin insisted it has learned lessons from the 2020 General Election when it failed to maximise its national vote share because of a lack of candidates in some constituencies. The party is now running second candidates in many constituencies in the hopes of picking up extra seats. Sinn Féin has also courted the Labour Party, Greens, Social Democrats, People Before Profit-Socialist Party and left-leaning independents after insisting Ireland is now in a position to elect its first ever left-wing Coalition Government.Seoirse MulgrewLabour calls for 'NCT-style' tests for rental property standards and end to no-fault evictions The Labour Party has today launched its 'New Deal for Renters' plan saying it wants an end to no-fault evictions and to see the introduction of an NCT-style minimum standard for rental accommodation. Launching the plan in Dublin 8 this morning, Dublin South Central candidate Cllr Darragh Moriarty said the current government has "failed renters dramatically". "It's really important that we have rental rights legislation that protects renters, that has their back. The Daft.ie report that's out today shows that rent in Dublin is up 5pc on last year, but even more concerning is they are up 43pc nationally since pre Covid levels," he said. "That is just shocking, and it shows exactly why the runaway rents that we're seeing need to be brought into line, and that's why we're proposing a series of measures to try and combat that and to protect renters." Conor FeehanAmy Blaney'Teachers won't forget the Fine Gael's insult,' says Sinn Féin's Louise O'Reilly Teachers will not have forgotten the Fine Gael insult at the start of the campaign, and neither will other public sector workers, said Sinn Féin at a launch in the Teachers' Club today. Louise O'Reilly, party spokesman on public expenditure, said her sister, a school principal "is telling me that herself and her colleagues are still incredibly angry". They would remember the put-down, from the mouth of Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary at Fine Gael minister Peter Burke's campaign launch, when faced with their ballots in 16 days' time, she predicted. "I just want to be very clear, what was said was awful," she said, as Sinn Féin promised to strengthen worker protection and rules around collective bargaining. "Coming from that quarter, maybe we wouldn't expect anything else, but it was a senior Fine Gael minister and his party colleagues gathered around, and how loudly they laughed and giggled and guffawed and sneered at teachers," Ms O'Reilly said. "I think this will stay with teachers, not just for the next 16 days, but I think for the next very long time. It's really tough to be a teacher. "My sister is a school principal, and she will tell you it's very hard to recruit teachers - not because they're not committed, not because they're not passionate about their job, but because they can't afford to live near where there is a need for teachers. "They just cannot afford it. So you're asking teachers to go back and live with their parents. People in their twenties and thirties are having to live with their parents down the country and commute up to work in Dublin, because they can't access affordable housing. "So whatever about the laugh and the jeering and the sniggering that Fine Gaelers do when they think nobody is watching about, that is awful. "But failing to deliver secure, affordable housing - and locking out an entire generation of civil and public servants - that is unforgivable," said Deputy O'Reilly. Sorca Clarke, Sinn Féin TD in Longford-Westmeath, said the demeaning attitude was not only shocking and shameless, but came "at a time when there in an unprecedented shortage of teachers in our schools".Sinn Féin would give full incremental recognition for teachers working abroad in the hope of attracting them back to Ireland. Many are in Dubai and other parts of the Middle East. Ms O'Reilly said her party would also be standing up for workers in the private sector, who had seen rights eroded. It would protect the right to retire at 65, but also abolish mandatory retirement.Sinn Féin's new third candidate in the Dublin South Central constituency, Daithí Doolan, said his party would commit €1 billion of the Apple money to the community sector. - Senan MolonySeoirse MulgrewContradictions as Fine Gael minister said users of small amount of drugs 'shouldn't end up in justice system' Fine Gael's Hildegarde Naughton, formerly a minister with responsibility for implementation of the National Drugs Strategy, previously pushed for people not to end up in the criminal justice system if they were caught with a small amount of drugs. It comes as Fine Gael leader ­Simon Harris hit out at Fianna Fáil for promising to decriminalise drugs in its general election manifesto, questioning which drugs the party was referring to. Fianna Fáil TD Jack Chambers said it would be only drugs such as cannabis, and not class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin. "I do think when it comes to drugs and decriminalisation, I think we need to be very careful on these things," Mr Harris said, in response to the manifesto pledge. He said further details are necessary, including clarification around the type of drugs, adding: "Is there a certain amount of the drug that you can smoke or take under this plan?" However, the party's former drugs minister Ms Naughton previously said people caught with a small amount of drugs should not end up in the criminal justice system. Read more from Gabija Gataveckaite and Maeve McTaggart here:Denise CalnanTwo new candidates have been added to the Dublin North West constituency.... Irish Independent's Adrianna Wrona gives us a brief introduction to both: Diarmuid "Dougie" Mac Dubhghlais (Independent) Mac Dubhghlais is a community and homelessness activist from Finglas who previously contested the 2019 local election for Ballymun-Finglas. He has been involved in campaigns and protests, including against the Water Tax and Property Tax. An independent candidate describes himself as "anti-establishment" and an "anti-racist and anti-hate campaigner" who advocates for united Ireland. He promises to focus on public housing and will campaign for a large-scale public house-building programme. He is a former member of the Dublin City Council Strategic Planning Committee and a former volunteer with Inner City Helping Homeless. John Nisbet (Labour Party) A Labour Party candidate contested the local election this year for Artane-Whitehall. He is a secondary school teacher of science and technology and an active supporter of the Educate Together organisation. Nisbet promises to focus on investment in housing, employment opportunities and local amenities, especially in Ballymun and Finglas. He is the Juvenile Secretary of the Na Fianna GAA Club, a member of the Local Residents Association and has been involved in charity, community and education projects from his teenage years.Seoirse Mulgrew

Denise CalnanA new candidate has been added to the Meath-East constituency Sivakumar Murugadoss (Independent) has thrown his hat into the ring... Irish Independent's Anne-Marie Walsh introduces us to the candidate.... Independent candidate Sivakumar Murugadoss may not have been successful in this year's local elections, but it has not prevented him putting his hat in the ring for the national contest. Born in India, the father-of-two, known locally as Siva, has lived in Ireland for 21 years. He settled in Ratoath in 2008 and runs a physiotherapy clinic in Ashbourne. "I understand the unique challenges and strengths of our community," he said. "From the moment I arrived, I recognised that this vibrant community was not just the place where I would build my professional life, it was also where I wanted to give back and make a meaningful impact." He said he has firsthand experience in how our healthcare and education systems can be improved, and has seen the challenges that families face.Seoirse MulgrewThe 'TikTok Taoiseach' has spoken..

Simon Harris says 'shoe leather' more important in general elections than social media

Fine Gael leader Simon Harris warned that while he may have been dubbed the 'TikTok Taoiseach', no election has ever been won via social media.Mr Harris acknowledged that he is active on social media as a useful means of engaging directly with voters."I don't know what they mean by that (TikTok Taoiseach)," he said."But it is true that I am on TikTok - I am also on Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin and anywhere else that I can (engage) with people."However, the Fine Gael leader warned that people often overstate the importance of social media engagement as opposed to directly meeting with voters."I have never gotten elected through any of those platforms," he said. Ralph RiegelSeoirse Mulgrew

'I'm like Ronseal, I do exactly what it says on the tin' – Independent Ireland candidate Shane P O'Reilly has ministerial ambitions

After saying she was "dying sick" from a cold, the jovial woman at the door got an immediate solution from Shane P O'Reilly offering his services: "I'm an undertaker too, you know what I mean". She doesn't know whether to laugh – or cough – but she gets the craic.The councillor known as Shane P is among his own in his charming home village of Mullagh in Co Cavan. It's hard to keep up with the quips on every door. "Don't tell them what you really think of me," he says to a local."I'm hoping to lose three stone. I'll keep walking," he cracks."Give me the auld scratch," he tells a woman passing by.The list of one-liners is endless but the Independent Ireland candidate is serious about winning a seat in Cavan-Monaghan – and even being a minister. In a general election where the opinion polls are suggesting Independents will make gains around the country, O'Reilly will never have a better chance to take a seat than now in his first general election outing. And he has no intention of sitting on the opposition benches either. Fionnán SheahanSeoirse Mulgrew

The facts behind Gráinne Seoige's Election 2024 advert claims about cancer care outcomes in west

Health has become a political battleground as the scramble for seats in the general election in Galway has taken a new twist, with television presenter turned Fianna Fáil Galway West candidate Gráinne Seoige again tackled over her ad campaign on cancer care in the region.The ad reads: "Did you know that treatment for cancer outcomes in Galway are the worst in the country?"Ms Seoige then promises to work to secure investment to ensure equal treatment in Galway.But it drew a rebuke from Niamh Madden, Fine Gael candidate in the neighbouring Galway East constituency, who accused her of politicising the deeply sensitive issue of cancer treatment and outcomes.Ms Madden spoke of her own father's excellent cancer treatment in Galway last year and said Ms Seoige's comments were "tactless electioneering" which has achieved nothing other than "increasing anxiety among cancer patients and their families in Galway". So, who is right and what facts should the voter know? Read more of this premium piece from health correspondent Eilish O'Regan below:Seoirse Mulgrew

Fianna Fáil calls for energy minister as part of election proposal to make electricity cheaper

Fianna Fáil wants a minister of state for energy as part of its proposals to make electricity cheaper for households and businesses, the party said at its election manifesto launch.The Greens criticised this push, saying the environment minister already is responsible for energy at cabinet level. They say a minister of state would downgrade the issue.Finance Minister Jack Chambers rejected this at the party's policy launch yesterday. He outlined how currently, the environment minister has responsibilities across two departments."If we want to really unlock renewable energy, we need a specific focus, with one minister of state working with a senior minister," Mr Chambers said. He said similar initiatives have worked well in other departments. For example, junior minister with the responsibility for mental health, Mary Butler, works with Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.Fianna Fáil has also proposed to keep the 9pc VAT rate on electricity and gas bills, which the party says will save consumers money. Gabija Gataveckaite Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel

Stay up to date with all the latest news