Sources within Fianna Fáil are “overemphasising” Fine Gael’s “hubris” to paint Micheál Martin in a more mature light than Simon Harris, according to Kevin Doyle.
The Sunday Times reported senior members of Fianna Fáil are unimpressed with Fine Gael’s “excessive hubris” following successful local and European elections.
Sinn Féin TD Pádraig Mac Lochlainn also warned Taoiseach Simon Harris that “pride comes before a fall” during Leader’s Questions in the Dáil this week.
Mediahuis Head of News Kevin Doyle said there is no doubt Fine Gael were “giddy” last weekend over their surprise success – but you can’t blame them.
“They thought they were going to have a terrible day out there,” he told The Anton Savage Show.
“For a lot of those guys, that's a very personal thing – they thought friends were going to lose jobs, people would be out on their rear.”
He said Fianna Fáil may be trying to paint Micheál Martin as the “sober Statesman” compared to Mr Harris.
“[They're saying] he is the grown-up in the room, whereas Simon is running around the country with all this Energizer Bunny energy,” he said.
“[They think Harris] doesn’t realise this is just one election and this is all going to his head – I think there is a little attempt within Fianna Fáil to maybe overemphasise the hubris and paint Fine Gael as kind of losing perspective.”
Mr Doyle said there is also some tension between the two political parties over who ‘won’ the local elections.
“Fine Gael got the biggest percentage vote in the country – but Fianna Fáil came away with the most seats,” he said.
“So, they're both trying to argue over who won the election depending on which metrics – but the truth is it was a draw.”
Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil 'both lost seats'
Green Party councillor and former mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu also pointed out that the argument over who ‘won’ the election is also somewhat ironic.
“At the end of the day, they are the winners per se – but they both lost seats,” she said.
“Even though you didn't have a bad day, it doesn't necessarily mean you had a good day.
“Same as Sinn Féin claiming they didn’t have a bad day, but they started on a low base and gaining 10 seats doesn’t mean they gained that much.”
Mr Doyle agreed the shock performance of Sinn Féin made all other parties feel more successful by comparison.
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