It’s hard not to think that Fine Gael and Enda Kenny know less about where they stand in Donegal than they did when they started canvassing in the Donegal SW by-election.
Although RTE producer Barry O’Neill did manage to beat Fianna Fail’s man into second place, he was hardly ever breathing down Pearse Doherty’s neck.
And while Enda Kenny may have blamed the weather for not turning up at the count centre in Stranorlar, you can bet he would have ran there barefoot in the snow if O’Neill had topped the poll.
O’Neill did manage to pick up a credible 18.6% of first preference votes but then Sinn Fein’s man did more than double that with 39.9%.
O’Neill claimed that people may have voted for Sinn Fein and not Fine Gael because they wanted to show those in power in Leinster House what they thought of them.
“I would say that this has been more of a protest vote against Fianna Fail that has swung towards Sinn Fein,” he offered.
O’Neill had claimed he had carried the spirit of Michael Collins to the count centre at the Finn Valley Centre.
And despite the fact that he couldn’t lead a Fine Gael rising across Donegal SW, O’Neill said he was happy that people now knew his name.
“People said that Barry O’Neill wasn’t known. Barry O’Neill has done very well and I’m very proud of my showing in this election,” said Barry O’Neill.
I’M BARRY O’NEILL, NOT MICHAEL COLLINS
