Limerick's Niall Collins lets fly over 'dispiriting' Presidential Election campaign

MINISTER of State Niall Collins has lashed out after what he described as a "very dispiriting" Presidential Election campaign.

The Limerick Fianna Fail TD has criticised his party's colleagues in Government, Fine Gael, saying they "ended" Heather Humphreys bid for Áras an Uachtaráin on Budget day - and added there is a "fundamental" need to look at how "non-political people" can get on the ballot paper.

"Have no doubt about it , and the Fine Gaelers wil never admit this to you. Fine Gael ended Heather Humphreys' campaign on Budget day. Why? Because they looked for, and were given by Fianna Fail, €690m per year for ever more, every year, for coffee shops. We gave 2.8m workers, who are voters in our economy, who go out and vote, get up every day, nothing," Mr Collins told Limerick Live.

PICTURES: County Limerick town hosts annual Tidy Towns awards

"Fine Gael need to stand in front of the mirror and take a long hard look and think. Because that's what sunk Heather Humphreys' campaign."

Independent TD Catherine Connolly was elected as the 10th President of Ireland in a landslide win this Saturday evening, polling more than double the votes of her nearest rival Ms Humphreys of Fine Gael.

The contest featured a withdrawal from Fianna Fail's own candidate, the former Dublin football manager Jim Gavin, who still secured more than 100,000 votes despite ending his campaign early this month. At the time he suspended his election bid, it was too late to take his name off the ballot.

Election day also saw an unprecedented number of spoiled votes, including 4,283 in Limerick County and 4,049 in the City constituency.

Some of the spoiled votes scanned at the Limerick count centre at Woodlands House Hotel in Adare by RTÉ’s Mid West correspondent Petula Martyn asked that Homer Simpson, Santa Claus, Donald Duck, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Enoch Burke and Maria Steen - who came within a whisker of getting on the ballot - all be President.

Other people cited concerns over immigration, crime and a lack of choice.

Fine Gael councillor Adam Teskey was also critical of his own party, describing their Government leaders as "out of touch".

"People feel disconnected from Government. That is people like myself, people in business, people payinhg mortgages. It's the young people. They feel disenfranchised and they don't feel their voice is being heart by the established parties. Today was another kickback in relation to the path which they portray themselves to be on," said the Adare-Rathkeale councillor.

"This needs to be a huge wake-up call to the establishment parties in Government. There needs to be a reset within Fine Gael in my opinion," he added.

President-elect Connolly's campaign was supported by a coalition of centre-left parties, including Sinn Fein, Labour and Social Democrats.

Labour's City TD Conor Sheehan said: "Her positive people-powered campaign resonated with people right across Limerick. I was so proud to work with a cross-party team of canvassers across Limerick who worked night and day for Catherine. It's an emphatic victory for Catherine and for progressive politics.

"People want change and I will work hard with other progressive parties to deliver a centre-left led Government after the next election. It's a clear rejection of the politics of the past and Fine Gael and Fianna Fail haven't woken up to that," he added.

Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan said: "Fine Gael are toxic in huge parts of the country. There is no way a Fine Gael candidate would win a Presidential election and that was reflected on the doors. To see the turnout in what would traditionally be strong Fine Gael areas across the city, Catherine Connolly was trouncing Heather Humphreys two-to-one. So it was a massive vote for her across the whole of Limerick."