Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has said his party has a “stronger alignment” with Fine Gael as he ruled out a deal with Sinn Féin.
Mr Martin indicated his party still wanted to bring Simon Harris back to power despite the latest opinion poll showing a slump in support for Fine Gael.
With just days to go before the polls open in the Republic, Mr Martin said his party could not work with Sinn Féin on the economy.
The Irish Independent reported that Mr Martin said while there are differences between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, “but on broader macro principles, I think there is stronger alignment on the enterprise question and the economic model that has served this country well”.
He added that Sinn Féin “opposed every policy that brought about foreign direct investment in this country” and is “very negative about the European Union”.
Speaking about the latest opinion polls, Mr Martin said that the days ahead of Friday’s election will be “very challenging”.
“It would be very, very foolish to read too much into the two polls we’ve had this weekend, one in the Sunday Independent, one of the Irish Times, both different, by the way, in terms of levels of support,” he said.
“As far as concerned, it’s focusing on the real campaign, and I’ve been really concentrating on ensuring that our teams across the length and breadth of the country get out to knock on doors, to get the message out, to get our candidates over the line.
“Because I believe it will be very challenging these next number of days.
“I’ve experienced this before last election and so on, when the last number of days can be crucial in terms of maintaining clarity on the message, and there’ll be attempts made all wrong to confuse the situation, but we’re very clear that we have a lot of work to do.”
It also came as Mr Harris ruled out Fine Gael entering into coalition with Sinn Fein.
He said he did not find the parties’ policies compatible “in any manner or means”.
He added: “I do believe when you give a commitment before an election that you won’t go in with a party you should honor that commitment after the election.
“My party certainly will.”
