Poll: battle for Dublin supremacy between SF's Boylan and FG's Hayes

BLISS indeed is it this morning to wake up in the capital and be a Sinn Fein candidate.

Even that old political revenantGerry Adams might be forgiven a toothy grin, for while the voters do not like him very much it doesn't seem to matter very much.

The party's leader has, during the course of this campaign, been questioned for four days over the murder of Jean McConville, while a second ghost involving his handling of the sexual abuse suffered by theSinn Fein leader's niece also surfaced last week.

And yet we find Sinn Fein's Lynn Boylan is now duelling with Fine Gael's Brian Hayes for the capital cock-pit.

Even Bertie (and quite a few bishops) would be impressed by that level of Teflon.

Of course, the cautious Irish electorate is also taking the canny side bet of sending Brian Hayes to Europe to ensure they have a man in a suit who can wing it with the respectable people. But despite a somewhat strange wobble by the normally steady Mr Hayes in the previous Millward Brown poll, that was always going to be the case.

When it comes to Sinn Fein, the electorate appears to be in the mood to, in the case of Mr Adams, discount the sins of the past in a similar manner to a bad debt built up in the boom.

Our voters, agitated beyond reason by the serial failings of our conventional political class, have decided that, in the words of Henry Ford, history is bunk... but only for some parties. Their decision means Mr Adams is set for the greatest act of political escapology since Charlie Haughey shook the dust of the Arms Trial off his aristocratic feet and ensconced himself in the Taoiseach's office.

Outside of the top two, for now Nessa Childers remains on course for a 'shock' victory.

But Labour's nightmare in a flowing dress has slipped somewhat back into the pack and is no longer quite so assured of success.

In contrast, Labour's Emer Costello is evolving into the blood-on-the-blouse style Bernie Malone of this contest.

Against almost insuperable odds the tenacity and the courage of the blood, sweat and tears Costello and Labour are bringing to the fight are even attracting the praise of Labour's political rivals and might yet save their stricken Tanaiste.

Irish Independent