Latest: Varadkar and Coveney go head-to-head at second hustings as protesters gather outside

Latest: Simon Coveney has insisted only his party can be trusted to steer the economy going forward, at the opening of the second night of the Fine Gael leadership debates in Carlow.

Latest: Varadkar and Coveney go head-to-head at second hustings as protesters gather outside

Latest: Simon Coveney has insisted only his party can be trusted to steer the economy going forward, at the opening of the second night of the Fine Gael leadership debates in Carlow.

    Hustings schedule

    Leadership candidates Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar will take part in four regional hustings at the following venues:

  • Thursday, May 25: Red Cow Hotel, Dublin, 8pm
  • Friday, May 26: Barrow Centre, IT Carlow, 8pm
  • Saturday, May 27: Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe, Co Galway, 8pm
  • Sunday, May 28: Clayton Hotel Silver Springs, Cork, 8pm

Update 8.50pm: Simon Coveney has insisted only his party can be trusted to steer the economy going forward, at the opening of the second night of the Fine Gael leadership debates in Carlow, writes Juno McEnroe, Irish Examiner Political Correspondent, Carlow.

He said Fine Gael must “never let anybody rewrite history” in terms of our economic history, after opening remarks where outgoing Taoiseach Enda Kenny was also praised.

The housing minister also reiterated that there was a need to unify communities now and not drive them apart. He said there was a need to rebalance Ireland outside of Dublin.

He said at one stage that he didn't think that any other party could be trusted with the economy, given their past record, a remark that could be seen as a dig at Fianna Fail.

Rival Leo Varadkar took a swipe at Mr Coveney, joking that he thought he was going to "pull out again" of the contest.

The social protection minister told the crowd that he remember falling over water meters during the last government to knock on doors to explain why medical cards were being taken away.

"That will never happen if I am leader, that will never happen again," he pledged.

He also said as social protection minister he had fixed "that mess", brought in free GP care and ensured increases in welfare went to most vulnerable in society including the blind and pensioners.

A poll today has put Mr Coveney in front with support overall.

According to the poll conducted for the Irish Times by Ipsos MRBI, it showed that when asked for their preferred choice for leader of Fine Gael, 42% said Mr Coveney, while 37% opted for Mr Varadkar.

It came after a strong performance by the housing minister during the first debate in Dublin on Thursday night, where he took aim at his rival and also impressed members.

Mr Coveney also joked that Leo Varadkar had “unfinished business” in health, his former portfolio.

Arriving at the second of the four hustings in debate venue at the Carlow Institute of Technology this evening, Mr Coveney's supporters were upbeat after a strong performance by the party leadership hopeful the previous evening in Dublin.

But Mr Coveney-who admits this is the underdog in the race-faces an uphill battle to win back support from his competitor, who has more than double the numbers of parliamentary party members backing him.

Following the four nights of debates, voting will begin in 28 locations around the country for the 21,000 rank-and-file members as well as the 232 councillors.

Earlier, a young mother of one joined a small protest outside the Carlow venue, highlighting how she had been denied emergency accommodation locally and instead was offered a place to sleep on a garda bench.

Karen Middleton, 26, said she and her son Luke, 6, were traumatised after being denied accommodation and waiting since March this year for some help.

She said the local authority had closed her accommodation in the last two weeks and she was instead advised she could sleep on a garda bench in the local garda station.

“My son has special needs and I just want either of the two ministers to solve the problem. Someone needs to help, we are sleeping on floors,” said the local mother.

Update 7.50pm: A small number of people are protesting outside Carlow IT ahead of the debate.

They arre protesting about the current accommodation crisis.

Earlier:Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney will come head-to-head again tonight in the second round of the Fine Gael hustings.

Last night's debate, to see who will become the next leader of Fine Gael, drew around a thousand party members, while tonight's hustings will take place in Carlow.

So far, Leo Varadkar is proving more popular with Government Ministers, but according to the latest MRBI survey - for the Irish Times - Simon Coveney is more popular with ordinary Fine Gael voters.

Minister of State for Housing and Urban Renewal Damien English - who is supporting Simon Coveney for leader - says the gap between the pair is not very wide.

"We accept that on declaration that Leo has the lead but if you look at the percentages... the gap isn't that big," he said.

Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People, Helen McEntee, is supporting Leo Varadkar for leader of Fine Gael.

She believes he was well received among party members last night:

"There's going to be another three nights of hustings so we're going to have a huge amount of questions over the next three nights I think Leo has shown that he has a better command on issues outside his own brief," she said.

    The road ahead:

    About 21,000 rank-and-file members have a vote, along with 232 party councillors.

    Voting for the eligible party members will take place nationwide at 26 polling stations on Monday May 29, Tuesday May 30, Wednesday, May 31 and Thursday June 1.

    The parliamentary party will meet and vote in Dublin on Friday, June 2. All votes will be brought to a National Count Centre in Dublin on that Friday, where they will be will be verified and counted under the supervision of the National Returning Officer.

    Votes will be weighted in accordance with the Fine Gael electoral college rules, with the 73 members of the Parliamentary Party (PP) accounting for 65% of the total vote, almost 21,000 party members accounting for 25% and 235 local representatives (232 councillors and 3 Údarás na Gaeltachta members) accounting for the remaining 10% of the vote.

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