Shades of Dracula and the kiss of death as Uncle Joe goes in for kill
Taoiseach Brian Cowen with Fianna Fail's Dublin European election candidates Eibhlin Byrne and Eoin Ryan in the Burlington Hotel yesterday for a press conference on 'Dublin's Economic future in Europe'
SURE lookit, wasn't it a fabulous day yesterday? The sun was only splitting the rocks, and there were eggs frying away on street pavements all over the country.
But maybe Fianna Fail have become so used to the prevailing economic gloom and the black mood of the electorate, that the sight of sunlight now brings them out in hives like Dracula.
Which perhaps explains why the chosen venue for the Taoiseach's press conference on Dublin's Economic Future in Europe (aka For The Love Of God Vote For Eoin), was a cheerless windowless room in the Burlington Hotel.
The left-wing vultures are circling greedily around the vulnerable Euro seat of Fianna Fail's MEP Eoin Ryan, and so the government wagons are being circled around its key candidate.
"The last thing Dublin and Ireland needs are representatives in Europe who have anti-EU policy agendas," Brian Cowen warned grimly.
"The policies of Sinn Fein and the Socialist Party will not bring one job or one euro of investment to Dublin."
But the scale of Eoin's pickle had been brought home by the unexpected but unequivocal vote of support for him by Mary Harney, who sternly advised the electorate on Monday: "Don't shoot Dublin in the foot in your anger over national issues."
And at this precarious stage, Eoin isn't turning his nose up at a thumbs-up from any quarter. "Obviously I'm in the middle of a campaign so I welcome all support. I'm delighted I got this endorsement," he insisted.
Another person openly gleeful over Mary Harney's outburst of cheerleading for Eoin Ryan was one of his close rivals for the seat, Joe Higgins.
The Socialist Party candidate had set up shop yesterday at the corner of Stephen's Green, in the vicinity of the women's mini-marathon, but he was exercised himself over Mary Harney's remarks.
"The arrogance of her!" he said with a mixture of indignation and amusement. On hearing her pronouncement, Joe had fired off a press release which declared:
"The hapless Eoin must have felt his political lifeblood chill as Harney's cold kiss of political support sealed his fate. Already spurned by many categories of workers from airport staff to teachers ... now every nurse, doctor, hospital attendant and taxi driver whom Harney has alienated in her day will join the revolt".
Joe grinned naughtily: "I had a good laugh writing that!" In fairness he has a reason for a bit of jollity; the most recent opinion poll showed him gaining two points to 9 pc, which puts him firmly in the scrap for the third seat, alongside Eoin and Sinn Fein's Mary Lou McDonald.
Hence Brian Cowen's warning against the Sinn Fein and Socialist Party candidates in his morning press conference. But Joe was clearly unimpressed by the Taoiseach's dire warning.
"It's a sign of his desperation," he snorted.
Dressed in summery yellow shirt, Joe stood in the sunshine looking like a kindly uncle and politely proffered leaflets to passers-by.
"Howarya Joe, you better be running," one marathon-bound woman from Tyrrelstown teased him.
But Joe's too busy catching up with his rivals.
"In the past few weeks over 100 people who aren't members of the party have volunteered to help in the campaign, he said, visibly chuffed.
And he is taking an obvious delight in the discomfiture of Fianna Fail -- he and Eoin had a robust telephonic roaring-match yesterday on Newstalk's lunchtime show. "Eoin Ryan was hysterical about me on the radio earlier, dragging out all the old Communist, Trotskyite and oul' Stalinist stuff," he said. "Had he been less ignorant, he'd have known I have nothing in common with Joe Stalin," he sniffed.
Despite the bogeyman tactics, he's simply Uncle Joe, the new anti-government voter's friend.
