HOUSING, CHILDCARE AND regional development were the headline issues that Cavan-Monaghan voters chose to bring up to the Taoiseach during two separate canvases today.

On the third day of the general election campaign trail, The Journal joined reporters who were bussed around Ireland today as Simon Harris and his team hit the streets of Cavan and Monaghan towns where the party are seeking two seats.

The constituency’s retiring incumbent, social protection minister Heather Humphreys, joined Harris along the trail as the pair met all three of its candidates in the constituency.

While Michael O’Leary’s remarks about teachers during a Fine Gael event have dominated headlines and threaten the stability of the party’s campaign, voters on the ground took the, albeit brief and unexpected, opportunity to tell the leader of the country what is impacting them instead.

During the first stop in Cavan town, staff at Boyle For Men, a suit shop with an outlet in both towns, told Harris that conducting business has been “very tough” lately, citing issues with rising costs and supply chain difficulties.

Taoiseach with T.P. O'Reilly and Carmel Brady speaking to staff at Boyle for Men suit shop during a canvass in Cavan town. Fergal Phillips Fergal Phillips

One staff member said that she only worked to pay for her high childcare costs. Another mentioned the need for better, well-rounded subsidies.

Harris wasted no time to rattle off any one of Fine Gael’s business support plans and publicly-funded childcare proposals – but it was unclear if that was enough to convince the staff that the Taoiseach’s party could stable the ship quickly.

Across the constituency, housing was brought up time and time again. The Monaghan half of the ward has the fewest available homes on the property or rental market.

“If he comes up to me I’m going to ask him where all the houses are,” one man said to his friend in the Monaghan café that the Taoiseach visited. Harris did not approach his table as a baby, Síofra (three-weeks old), had been handed to him sooner.

Three-week-old Síofra and her parents meet with Taoiseach Simon Harris and Cllr David Maxwell in Monaghan Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal / The Journal

Once again, the Taoiseach listed off points included in his newly-announced housing policy but nothing that specific to the constituents’ situations.

After he was intercepted by a local journalist in Cavan, he said the same issues are being mentioned all over the country. “I’m asking that people give me a chance on all of these matters,” Harris told the reporter.

One man stopped the Taoiseach in the street in Monaghan town. He said he supported Fine Gael candidate David Maxwell but expressed the need for gardaí and healthcare services to be improved in the county.

“Cavan [general hospital] can’t cope and neither can Drogheda,” he said. “I want more resources here.”

Taoiseach Simon Harris canvassing at a café in Monaghan. Fergal Phillips Fergal Phillips

The bus and Harris then made way up to Donegal – which requires the Taoiseach and his armed garda entourage to seek permission first so that the convoy can be flanked by two PSNI units through Northern Ireland.

Tonight’s canvass was further delayed due to a call with US President-elect Donald Trump. In Letterkenny, the Taoiseach and candidate and current senator Nikki Bradley knocked on doors in Ashbrook – a Fine Gael stronghold.

Bradley, who had a leg amputation due to Ewing’s sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer, outlined her desire to represent people with disabilities in the Dáil and asked for constituents’ support.

Some of the neighbours – who had been warned of the Taoiseach’s visit by fellow resident and Fine Gael councillor Jimmy Kavanagh prior to his arrival – wished Bradley and the Taoiseach the best of luck in the election and voiced support for the party.

One issue that, surprisingly, didn’t come up at the doors or among the public in Donegal was defective building blocks. Everyone who spoke to The Journal at this evening’s events said that the issue was most important to those in the north of the county.

The mica scandal poses a real threat to Fine Gael’s base in Donegal. Independent TD Joe McHugh left the party in protest over the government’s handling of the scandal, but has decided not to contest this election. 

Speaking in Ballybofey, Harris said that he was aware of the importance of the issue and the “burden” it has placed on voters in Donegal in recent years and committed to a full review of the current redress scheme, if his party were to get back into Government.

Harris (R) and Cllr McNulty addressed a crowd in Ballybofey this evening. Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal Muiris O'Cearbhaill / The Journal / The Journal

He told a crowd, while standing behind the counter of candidate John McNulty’s petrol station, that this election will be the “battle of all battles”.

“On Friday 29 November, people in Donegal will have the opportunity to go out and vote and I’m really hoping that they return a Fine Gael TD here in this constituency,” he said.