Race to the Áras: Just 3 days to go.. Catherine Connolly and Heather Humphreys hunker down as election looms
Healy-Rae backing Humphreys due to her support of ‘down to earth common sense stuff and not airy fairy nonsense’
Heather Humphreys was joined by Independent Ministers Michael Healy-Rae, Marian Harkin, Noel Grealish and Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran at a photocall in Merrion Square this afternoon where all four ministers outlined why they were supporting the Fine Gael candidate.
Mr Healy-Rae said that Ms Humphreys has been to the fore of “fundamental down to earth common sense stuff” like live exports and rural pursuits and not “airy fairy nonsense”.
“When you’re going to vote, seriously consider what you’re going to do. Do you want to vote for somebody who has common sense, who supports live exports, rural pursuits, whether that’s greyhounds, whether it’s horse racing, she’s always been to the fore in all of those issues, what I would call fundamental down to earth, common sense stuff, not airy fairy nonsense,” Mr Healy-Rae said.
Asked if Mr Healy-Rae was implying that Catherine Connolly supported airy fairy nonsense, Mr Healy-Rae said “absolutely not”.
“Did I mention anybody? I’m talking about our candidate. I’m talking about the person that I’m promoting, and I’m reflecting her work, her ability and her track record,” he said.
Asked if she understood why people across the country have concerns about fox hunting and hare coursing and believe it is animal cruelty, Ms Humphreys said there are controls around these rural pursuits and added that there are “two sides to every story”.
“I understand why people are concerned but can I just say there’s a lot of controls. There’s a lot of controls in place around these pursuits. They are rural pursuits, and they’ve been with us for many, many years, and people are out, participating in these rural pursuits,” Ms Humphreys said.
“And indeed, I might as well tell you, you’re talking about fox hunting, I was speaking to a farmer just this morning, and he said that he had 30 lambs killed by foxes. So, you know, there’s two sides to every story,” she added.
Tabitha Monahan
