He then telephoned Fallon to apologize directly, and committed to meeting her again face-to-face to hear her grievances in detail. After the call, Fallon told the Irish Times that she was still shaken by the “horrible” treatment of her.
“I hope nobody else has to have an interaction like that ever, because it’s not very nice going home crying,” she told the Irish Times.
Harris’ stumble comes at the start of the critical final stretch of a three-week campaign dampened by ice-cold evenings and, this weekend, an Atlantic storm flooding isolated rural communities. This weekend represents the last chance to catch most voters when they’re at home during daylight hours.
Major new polling is about to be published by the Sunday Independent newspaper, followed by more polls Monday and Wednesday. The key three-way TV debate is set for Tuesday night pitting Harris against Foreign Minister Micheál Martin and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald.
Previous polls have put Fine Gael only narrowly ahead of Martin’s Fianna Fáil, his main coalition partner and rival for center-ground votes, and the Irish republicans of Sinn Féin.
The margin of error in such polls means, in reality, the three parties could potentially be in a dead heat for top position. Typically the party with the most parliamentary seats earns the first right to form a coalition government. However, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil both have dismissed the prospect of forming any governing partnership with Sinn Féin.
