Two of the main political party leaders visited Cavan and Monaghan today in order to kick off their election campaigns. Fine Gael leader and Taoiseach, Simon Harris, along with Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald visited both Cavan and Monaghan Town on separate occasions. Speaking to Northern Sound in Cavan Town, Simon Harris described his parties three candidates in the Cavan-Monaghan constituency (TP O'Reilly, Carmel Brady, David Maxwell) as a "strong ticket."
Simon Harris says with Fine Gael's performance at local election level, the "incredible credentials" of new candidates in Cavan-Monaghan, along with the support of Heather Humphreys - he is "cautiously optimistic" when it comes to his parties performance in the upcoming general election. He told Northern Sound; "Heather is a legend. She is a great friend of mine and had an incredible impact not just here in Cavan/Monaghan but nationally in terms of how she got government thinking about rural Ireland. We've a really strong ticket here. There's a lot of people who went out during the local elections and voted for Fine Gael in Cavan and Monaghan and I think that between those realities, the incredible credentials f our new candidates and indeed Heather's support during this election I'm cautiously optimistic. Fine Gael takes nothing for granted in this constituency or anywhere else."
Elsewhere, speaking to Northern Sound in Monaghan Town. Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said she is "absolutely confident" with her parties three candidate strategy for Cavan-Monaghan. Describing Matt Carthy and Pauline Tully as "outstanding TDs" who are "very strong candidates", Mary Lou McDonald believes the addition of Cllr Cathy Bennett brings "even more talent to the ticket." Mary Lou McDonald says this is an "incredible ticket" for the Cavan -Monaghan constituency, with the objective to "bring about a change in Government." Deputy McDonald told Northern Sound; "Our objective is to bring about a change of government and we now have 18 days to make that happen. The people of Cavan/Monaghan have the opportunity to return three outstanding people to the Dáil. I really hope that people have a sense of history in this election and grasp this opportunity. We're in this to win and we're setting out to take three seats in this constituency."
