The Sinn Fein leader has accused Simon Harris of “scaremongering” over his warnings about future economic shocks.
Mary Lou McDonald said comments made by the Taoiseach in recent times, particularly in the wake of Donald Trump’s presidential election victory in the US, were a “mark of desperation”.
Ms McDonald is spending the final hours on the campaign trail in Dun Laoghaire and Rathdown before she returns to her consistency, where she will attend the switching on of the Christmas tree lights in Ballybough before ending the evening by calling the numbers at her local bingo hall.
Speaking outside Government Buildings in Dublin, Ms McDonald was asked about comments from Mr Harris about the future of the economy.
“I think it’s scaremongering,” she said. “I think it’s a mark of desperation. I think he, like us, recognises that momentum for change. He recognises that the momentum for change is behind Sinn Fein.”
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald spoke to the media outside Government Buildings, Dublin, on the last day of campaigning ahead of the General Election on Friday (Brian Lawless/PA)
“He knows that to change the government, Sinn Fein has to drive that.
“We are encouraging people, asking people to vote for us, to lend us your vote, to allow us, for the first time, to have a government led by Sinn Fein beyond Fine Gael and Fianna Fail.
“I think the numbers reflect the fact now in Irish political life that there is a world beyond Fianna Fail and Fine Gael.”
Describing the election campaign as “very eventful”, the Dublin Central candidate said it has been “sub-optimal” for the government parties.
“We started off with the big two establishment parties, assuming that they had a home run, assuming that they would simply waltz back into government buildings,” she added.
“We never thought that was going to happen. Why? Because we were acutely aware of the reality for people out on the ground, people who aren’t getting disability services and respite and carers who feel disrespected and left behind and not heard.
“Young people who can’t afford their rent, a generation of people with no prospect of affording or owning their own home, rural communities that feel not just left behind but utterly disrespected by the outgoing government.
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“We always knew that there was a conversation to be had, a campaign to be run, and that people given the option, the real option, of a viable choice, that people would respond to that.
“I think we’ve been proven correct.
“For us, this has been actually a very lively campaign.
“It’s been interesting. It’s been, shall we say, sub-optimal for the parties of government. If they thought they were just going to waltz back in here, no, they shouldn’t assume that.
“The people now will make the decision. I think it’s evident to anybody observing Irish society and politics objectively speaking, that after 100 years of Fianna Fail Fine Gael, the Tweedledum and Tweedledee, as I call them, now is the time for a new government.
“Now is the time for change, and the momentum for changes is behind us.
“As regards the Labour Party or any other individual, we’re going to talk to everybody. I believe in talking to people, what we all need to do first is gather our own mandate.”