No Bono. No Saw Doctors. Just the party's referendum video backed by singer Brian Kennedy, and Markeen. "No better man than Killilea!" remarked one activist in Galway's Eyre Square last night, as the Connacht-Ulster MEP played MC for Fianna Fail's final referendum rally.
Once described as bearing the "most photogenic face in Irish politics", Mr Killilea was clearly moved to be hosting what may be one of his last public events. The MEP has already declared he is not running for Europe next time. "To be witnessing this great event, this unification of the people, is a lovely occasion for me personally," he said.
And this was a momentous occasion, when people had to make a momentous decision, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, told party activists from Galway, Mayo and Roscommon in the Great Southern Hotel, when he paid tribute to previous peace initiatives.
"Good Friday, 10th April, 1998, was a special day for this country," he said, departing from his script. "After 30 years of deep alienation and hundreds of years of bitterness, an awful lot is built on this." The keynote of the whole agreement was change, constitutional change. Of course, there was differences, he said, even within his own party.
"This agreement does not spell victory or defeat for nationalists or unionists," but it provided a fair accommodation. Fianna Fail had, for a long time, been trying to find a way to break the cycle of violence. This was not easy, given the entrenched positions, but this was something the party could understand, he said.
On constitutional issues, he referred to the "disappointment" of those who thought that Articles 2 and 3 would prove difficult for Fianna Fail. They failed to recognise the long hours of debate within the party on this issue, and a recognition that the future was about people and identity.
The MC paid tribute to a Taoiseach who had achieved an ambition held by every party leader since de Valera.
No one could even contemplate voting No on Friday to either of the proposals. Changes in Articles 2 and 3 were not a subject of great debate in the West. "It's a beautiful way that this has been got around," Mr Killilea said. "Giving up the geographical bit for the hearts and minds of the people."
Appealing for a "double X for a double Yes" on Friday, the Connacht-Ulster MEP said he had one message for "all the Greens and the professors" associated with the No campaign. "If we had a referendum for the Irish people to go to heaven in the morning, they'd find a reason for us to be voting against it," he said to much laughter.
