Fine Gael and Labour ‘big plan to halt rise of Sinn Féin’

ENDA KENNY AND JOAN BURTON are appointing a raft of new junior ministers not because they see issues such as housing and austerity as critical failures of the Irish Government but because Fine Gael and Labour want to “halt the rise of Sinn Féin . . . by whatever means possible”.

Enda Kenny’s “big plan” is the lead front-page story by Dáil political correspondents Niall O’Connor and Fionnan Sheahan in Monday’s Irish Independent.

“The Government will attempt to halt the rise of Sinn Féin in the capital by appointing a number of junior ministers from the greater Dublin area this week,” the pair write.

They reveal that Fine Gael and Labour strategists say the promotion of TDs from constituencies where Sinn Féin is recording major gains will be essential for both Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Joan Burton.

“The Coalition partners agree that the surge in support for Gerry Adams’s party must be forcefully addressed as attention begins to switch to the next general election.

“The plan to thwart Sinn Féin will be reflected in the handing out of junior ministerial jobs, which is expected to take place tomorrow.”

They quote a Fine Gael strategist as saying:

"Sinn Féin romped home in Dublin in the locals. The void of ministers has to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”

And Labour’s drubbing by the voters has forced new Labour leader Joan Burton to sign up to Enda Kenny’s “big plan” as the party prepares a major push at winning back Dublin support it has lost to Sinn Féin.

They say “a senior Labour figure concurred” that the dramatic rise in Sinn Féin’s support in the capital is “threatening the future of the Labour Party”.

The Labour insider adds that this might mean making someone a minister in Dublin because of geography rather than priority or ability:

“We’ve lost so much ground to them in Dublin. We need to stop them in their tracks by whatever means possible.”

The Sinn Féin challenge may also result in the Fine Gael and Labour leaders appointing junior ministers from Dublin, Wicklow and Meath, the Irish Independent says.