Cullen reaction:Minister for Transport Martin Cullen has denied that he has been "sent to ground" by Fianna Fáil strategists, saying that he has been spending time canvassing in his constituency.
"My scheduling for the campaign was to concentrate the first two weeks in the constituency to ensure Fianna Fáil wins its two seats," Mr Cullen said yesterday.
After the opening of the 28km N6 Kinnegad to Kilbeggan dual carriageway, the Minister said: "We're in the third week now and this has coincided with the national participation that I will have today here in Mullingar."
Mr Cullen said he could not understand Fine Gael's and Labour's attacks on him.
"I don't know where this is coming from. I was with RTÉ last week for their first constituency review that Derek Davis did; I was about 20 minutes there.
"I started the largest cable-stayed bridge in the country last week. RTÉ was there and chose not to show it on television but I'm not the editor of the programme."
Mr Cullen said he would be doing interviews with RTÉ and Newstalk "and I'll be at the press conferences for the rest of the week".
He said Labour and Fine Gael had no new transport ideas. "No other body, political party or anybody else has come up with anything different in this general election except to support Transport 21 [ the Government's transport strategy].
"I would put it to those who seem to have the arduous task of getting cardboard cut-outs and "missing" posters of me ready, to ask them what they did in the last four days; and I'll you what I did.
"We started the largest cable-stayed bridge in the country; we started new scheduled flights from Ireland to Birmingham six days a week; we've opened a section of the new motorway to Galway; we've opened the new Mullingar bypass . . .
"All transforming lives . . . That's what I've always done; it's about delivery and that's what Martin Cullen does."