Pat Rabbitte’s guide to the two candidates

Simon Coveney

By birth and character Simon Coveney has the qualities that will recommend him to the Fine Gael heartland.

Hard working, patient, serious and temperamentally suited to leadership, Coveney today is almost unrecognisable from the carefree young Coveney who took his father’s seat in 1998.

For those who believe that we are stuck with “new politics”, Coveney is the man most likely to keep the show on the road.

He is also ...