QUIDNUNC/Renagh Holohan: Those with long memories say the current election campaign is the dullest yet. There are many reasons why this is so. First, not only did it come as no surprise - there is nothing like a fall of a Government on a Dáil defeat to create drama - but the campaigns have been in operation since the autumn. Then there's the fact that all the major players occupy the centre ground, have very similar policies and are terrified of being radical for fear of knocking themselves out.
The fact that six months ago Fianna Fáil dealt with the election issues of health, education, housing and crime by saying, "we might not have delivered fully but here are our plans," stole the ammunition of the Opposition. When attacked on these issues, FF/PD were able to reply that work was in progress. Michael Noonan's photo in an empty hospital wing in Mullingar last week gave the Government a shock. It is considered the best punch of the campaign to date. Then there's the fact that no one is upping tax (except capital gains and employers' PRSI), and no party will mention the unmentionable - that despite the years of boom, the public finances are not in good order. To say so now would negate all their economic policies as they are based on dodgy figures. Also, widespread popular financial policies can't be implemented if there's no money in the kitty.
Little movement in the opinion polls, in the first two weeks anyway, contributed to the boredom. When the unofficial campaign started months ago, the odds were on a return of the FF/PD Government. Then, as Quidnunc wrote on March 16th, the prospect of an overall FF majority began to emerge, and as FF tried to dampen such speculation for fear of frightening the voters, the polls moved in that direction. But a week is a very long time in politics.
Church gate clash
Things may be dull at national level, apart from distractions such as James McDaid, Michael McDowell, Pee Flynn, the Bertie Bowl, custard pies and speeding motorcades, but at local level it's a bit livelier - and nowhere more so than when rivalries boil over between candidates of the same party.
In Co Mayo last weekend supporters of Beverley Cooper-Flynn, who is semi-detached from FF, and FF junior minister Tom Moffatt clashed at Foxford church gates as they both turned up to make a collection at the same time. The Garda was called to separate the factions.
One bystander remarked that both groups were like spoilt children. "The laughable thing about it all is that there wouldn't be €50 to be got from the entire collection. There must have been more to it than money or politics."