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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Fine Gael and media attacks hand Martin McGuinness a major victory

Posted on Thursday, October 06, 2011 at 06:03 PM

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The rise in the Martin McGuinness vote and the fall in Gay Mitchell's vote in the Irish presidential election speaks volumes.

Mitchell, the Fine Gael candidate has been the attack dog, backed by major elements of the Dublin media in going after McGuinness from Sinn Fein.

The level of vitriol has included possible impeachment if he is elected president to being arrested for his IRA past.

The upshot has been that Mitchell is now at 9 per cent in The Irish Times poll and McGuinness is in third place at 19 per cent.

In contrast, Mitchell's party Fine Gael enjoys about 44 per cent support while Sinn Fein is on about 13 per cent support.

The change in fortune makes clear that Sinn Fein bashing has run its course with the Irish electorate who know full well the role that Martin McGuinness played in bringing peace to Ireland.

As the main party in the Irish government Fine Gael is enjoying major popularity, especially their leader Enda Kenny who has been honest, plain spoken and direct on issues from the economic meltdown to the culpability of the Vatican in the child sex abuse cases.

Bu the party has clearly panicked over the presidential election and their deeply flawed candidate.

Beating up on Sinn Fein was always a good strategy in terms of turning out the law and order vote in the old days.

Clearly someone decided to pound that big brass drum again this time.

But the people are not listening.

The peace process has made all that rhetoric old and stale. Fine Gale's Mitchell and his media cohorts are like the Bourbons who 'learnt nothing and forgot nothing" in the word of Talleyrand.

Contrast Mitchell with front runner Michael D.Higgins of Labor who has steered well away from the Sinn Fein bashing and easily heads the polls.

Wise old owl that he is he understands when it comes to prejudice there's a time to hold them and a time to fold them.

Fine Gael party and media honchos have still not got that message.

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merefalow | Oct 08, 2011, 06:11 AM EDT

the guy behind martin is no blue shirt,he,s slightly deaf and trying to hear what martin is saying,he,s actually one of the gay what his names stooges which is why he,s wearing a pink tie.

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slainte39 | Oct 08, 2011, 01:15 AM EDT

Nay, to your first reason Aye, to your second

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Towngate | Oct 07, 2011, 11:51 PM EDT

Seanie: I have no beef with SF. I feel Martin's ill-concieved caper is opportunistic and profoundly dishonest and will be rumbled by the voters. ~ ~ ~ There are two reasons why I will never have to grin and bear it: first: it's just not going to happen!; second: I will have choked eating my Auld Skillara...!

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seanomelbourne | Oct 07, 2011, 07:26 PM EDT

Towngate me old segosha just grin and bear it. Sinn Fein now the 2nd. most popular party in Ireland now wouldn't that give you nightmares.

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cillowen | Oct 07, 2011, 12:55 PM EDT

upset brit lovers can't abide with the awakening that is underway in old erin. Diaspora will be as proud as punch with Martin Mc as prez.

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AengusOg | Oct 07, 2011, 11:00 AM EDT

Perhaps the American media, including IC, should take a lesson and recognize that when they wantonly savage Republicans and call the Tea Party extremist, that they are shooting themselves in the foot.

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IronMountainMovies | Oct 07, 2011, 09:59 AM EDT

If the hacks in the Irish Media spent more time talking to the Irish people as opposed to talking among themselves, they would have known all of the above. Ronan Gallagher Leitrim Ireland

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Towngate | Oct 07, 2011, 09:55 AM EDT

CaptainCon. Just for fun! Yes, a picture speaks a thousand words,they say, and this one might be saying that McGuinness is twitching his trigger finger at Mitchell in some sinister secret signal to his shadowy cohorts, but that the equally sly Mitchell is ahead of him and is studying McGuinness' back in order to decide exactly where to pin the target. I wonder did the picture editor not crop the photo deliberately!?! ..........Btw: did you mean "Something of the Night" - first used to describe British MP Michael Howard - about the Gay Draculaean? Slainte!

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CaptainCon | Oct 07, 2011, 09:02 AM EDT

Great photo and it does encapsulate what a lot of people in Ireland think of two of the candidates. McGuinness has committed to the democratic process and sat down with someone he would have regarded as his worst enemy for a large part of his life. Mitchell has spent a large part of his life and earned far too much money by 'overhearing things' say we say. There is something of the Knight about Mitchell and plenty of people in Ireland are aware that in electing him you'd be electing someone else who may not have Irish interests at heart.

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Towngate | Oct 07, 2011, 07:04 AM EDT

Niall, a chara: Jeeeese! You've got a bad dose of something about this guy McGuinness! he moves a few points in the volatile Irish opinion polls, a quarter of the way through the compaign - and he is being handed a 'Major Victory'! Talk about 'wishful thinking'! Dream on,by all means,a chara, but put your money on him not winning any kind of victory. The people of the country he is currently visiting, have more sense that that! Bet your bottom dollar!

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GeorgeDillon | Oct 07, 2011, 02:26 AM EDT

I'm not an expert on this election, but I gotta say that the guy with McGuinness in the pic above looks like a typical sneaky Blueshirt. I would never let a Blueshirt stand behind me. I don't care who wins, but I sure hope that Blueshirt comes in last!

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