Ciara Kelly has said Simon Harris is not 'a bad guy' - despite anger and dismay at his handling of a conversation with a disability worker in Cork.  

Over the weekend, Simon Harris was approached by a woman who said the disability sector had been ignored in the budget - something he denied - before leaving to continue with his campaigning.

Mr Harris has since apologised in a post to Instagram but the encounter has been seized on by Fine Gael’s political opponents.

Labour Senator and Dublin Central candidate Marie Sherlock said the incident "reflects the neglect by successive Fine Gael governments."

On Newstalk Breakfast, Ciara Kelly said politicians are "allowed to be human".

“I do think our politicians are only human,” she said

“I think what we saw with Simon Harris, I think we saw tiredness, fatigue, irritation – but I think they must all be wrecked at this point from running around, from meeting thousands upon thousands of people and from trying to say the right thing to everyone all the time.

“I kind of feel that politicians have to be allowed to be human too."

Taoiseach Simon Harris speaking on the phone from his office at Government Buildings in Dublin, 15-5-24. Image: X/@SimonHarrisTD

Fellow presenter Shane Coleman said Fine Gael “has put all its eggs into the Harris basket”.

“I think the worry is they will overreact to this and they will try and chase poll figures - and I think that could be absolutely disastrous,” he said.

"The Taoiseach's campaign of tearing into towns, flying around the place, shaking hands all the time – I'm not sure about it.

“I wonder was that a lot to do with how he handled that situation? It was like, ‘right I need to go’."

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Ciara agreed but said that politicians are expected to take everything ‘on the chin’.

“They’re not really allowed to respond in any way that isn’t calm and decent – all of that stuff,” she said.

A recent poll show Fine Gael is down six points, with Sinn Féin up one and Fianna Fáil up two.