Fine Gael members at the first hustings of the party’s leadership election praised Simon Coveney as a hard working minister and said Leo Varadkar had “something special” in terms of public appeal.
Some members, however, criticised the fact that members of the parliamentary party had publicly declared who they were backing before the four hustings took place around the country.
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Some 800 Fine Gael members gathering at the Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin, near the M50 motorway, for the first of four hustings on Thursday night. The debate saw both candidates give opening speeches before taking questions from the audience.
Dragon’s Den presenter Gavin Duffy was the convener of the two hour hustings.
Party members Madeline Spiers, from Dublin Rathdown, said Fine Gael is lucky to have two “outstanding” candidates.
“To be honest, I am more of a policy person than a personality person,” Ms Spiers said, adding that she will wait until after the hustings before deciding how to cast her ballot.
Helena O’Sullivan, originally from Cork but now living in Dublin Bay South, said she will be voting for Mr Coveney, who she described as an “honest man” and a “hard worker”.
When asked if the Cork South Central TD has the “X Factor”, Ms O’Sullivan replied: “Absolutely, yes he does. He is a very decent man,”
Eoin Dowling, a member of the Trinity College branch of Young Fine Gael, said he will be voting for Mr Varadkar.
Mr Dowling said Mr Varadkar is better placed to bring more support to Fine Gael at the next election. He also sad that Mr Varadkar had “proven himself to be a capable minister” in a number of departments and said he had “no doubt” he will be a success as Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach.
Nora Kennedy from Dublin South Central said she would have been leaning towards Mr Coveney but said Mr Varadkar has the potential to bring “new life, new confidence” to Fine Gael.
Rena Harford from Dun Laoghaire said she will be voting for Mr Varadkar, who she described as having “an edge”.
“He just has something special,” Ms Harford said. “You could call it the ‘X Factor’ if you like.”
Speaking before the event, Des Powell, a Fine Gael member from Blackrock, Co Dublin, said he hoped the leadership election process will be “calm”.
Mr Powell said he will reserve judgement on who he will support until after tonight’s hustings. He said, however, that the new leader will have to “carry the whole country” and that Mr Varadkar May have the wider appeal. Mr Coveney, he added, was also a worthy candidate and he praised the Minister for Housing’s Rebuilding Ireland plan aimed at boosting the construction sector.
Also at the event was Eoin McDonnell from Dun Laoghaire who said that the Fine Gael parliamentary party should have “kept their mouths shut”.
He criticised the early declarations of support for both candidates and said it had an effector the remainder of the election process.
The next hustings will take place in IT Carlow on Friday evening, followed by one in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, on Saturday with the final event happening in the Silver Springs Hotel in Cork on Sunday evening.
Voting for the 21,000 eligible members will begin next Monday, May 29th, and will run through until Thursday, June 1st, at 24 polling stations around the country, and one at the offices of the European People’s Party (EPP) in Brussels. Another polling station will be set up in Leinster House on Friday, June 2nd, for TDs, senators and MEPs.
The final result of the election will be declared later that evening.
