Irish election: Could ‘viral’ moments be crucial?

A day after the campaign began three weeks ago, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary made controversial comments about teachers while he was attending a Fine Gael election event.

Then, the following week, two court cases from recent years, involving a Fine Gael general election candidate who was found liable for assault, emerged as an issue in the campaign.

So, from a strong position at the beginning of the election, the Fine Gael campaign has wobbled substantially resulting in faltering opinion poll results.

The party began the campaign buoyed by the prospect of the so-called ‘Harris Hop’ – a jump in popularity after the election of Harris as leader and Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) earlier this year.

During the past week, commentators have been musing over how the ‘hop’ has rapidly been turning into something resembling a ‘flop’.

That’s now a serious challenge for Fine Gael.

The party has been running its campaign under a “new energy” slogan, but observers have been noting how some of that energy has been rapidly ebbing away.