With the Leeds legend by his side, the Labour leader insisted it was an election of two halves
AS THE big guns in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael trained their sights on Labour yesterday morning, the party rolled out a legendary midfield general in advance of the battle to come.
It was the Eamo and Gilesy show – but not as we know it.
They met on a football pitch in the north Dublin suburb of Marino – the great Johnny Giles, showing he can still turn on a sixpence, and Eamon Gilmore, who can’t. Not that the Labour leader was making any claims in that direction. He was just happy to be passing the ball with an Irish sporting legend and basking in his reflected glory.
Giles has what politicians crave: authority, insight, expertise, respect, popularity and the eternal devotion of Eamon Dunphy. (Actually, they might not want that the last one.)
He attended the launch of Labour’s plan for sporting communities to lend his support to Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, a councillor and candidate in Dublin North Central. Primary school principal Ó Ríordáin was instrumental in the council’s decision to place a plaque marking the sportsman’s birthplace on Ormond Square.
“I’m not a political animal but I’ve often been to Aodhán’s school in Sheriff Street to see the kids – they’re great kids,” said Giles, an inner-city boy himself. “The area has its problems and I like to visit and do my bit for them.”
Eamon Gilmore was asked to do some analysis of his own in the light of the latest opinion poll. To paraphrase Gilesy’s sidekick, it wasn’t a great poll or even a good poll for Labour: it was extremely disappointing.
Under the circumstances, there was really only one response and he ran with it. “This election is a game of two halves.” He continued: “I never believed the outcome of the election was a foregone conclusion. I’ve always taken seriously Fine Gael’s ambition to get an overall majority but I don’t think that single-party government is what the people want.”
Hold it there, Bill! The lad Gilmore is playing the ball into the electorate’s half there, Bill!
Meanwhile, given that he was taking part in a photocall for a candidate while wearing a big Labour sticker on his lapel, does this mean Giles has caught the politics bug from Dunphy, who very nearly got involved in a new political movement?
“It came as a complete surprise to me. He told me nothing about it. What was his party supposed to be called? ‘Now’ something or other? ”
And he smiled a mischievous smile. “But he didn’t do anything, Eamon.” Nuff said Gilesy.
