Let the sun shine: A Taoiseach visits Mitchelstown and Fermoy

The sun split the stones in Mitchelstown last Friday morning as Taoiseach Simon Harris visited the town on a short tour of Lower Cork Street where, accompanied by local councilors Kay Dawson and Noel McCarthy and European election candidate John Mullins, he met many people entrepreneurs and citizens.

The Avondhu was on hand at the Clongibbon House Hotel where Mr Harris had his first audience with a number of students from Presentation Secondary School. After a discussion about politics, it was time for a selfie with the Taoiseach of TikTok, and the shouting witnessed wouldn't have been out of place at a music performance. It is uncertain whether this cohort is old enough to vote yet, but they were definitely won over by the traveling delegation!

Being objective is an essential part of reporting, but it must be said that of the 80 or so people the Avondhu witnessed meeting the Fine Gael leader on the streets, in shops and in cars and jeeps , there was no bad feeling or any disagreement observed. Even as a numbers game with every politician, it was surprising to see such a universal welcome. Maybe it was the sun.

Coverage in this week's print and digital editions