Compiled by Carl O'Brien
Shatter keeps his eye on the balls
As any general election candidate will tell you, it takes balls to campaign for public office.
And, in Fine Gael candidate Alan Shatter's case, it takes about 4,000 of them. His campaign team has been handing out multi-coloured rubber balls in shopping centres across south Dublin, emblazoned with the logo: "Shatter is on the ball".
So far, they've proved a huge success. So much so that when the former TD is out canvassing he finds himself surrounded by frenzied voters eager to get their hands on his balls, as it were.
"It's been great fun," he told Campaign Trail yesterday. "They're proving to be very popular. We've had parents and grandparents chasing after us to get them."
Not everyone is happy, though. When he approached a couple and their two young children the other day, they harrumphed loudly when offered a ball. "Clearly," he surmised, "they were Fianna Fáil voters."
Perspective . . .
"Election fever is growing in North Kilkenny"
- A headline in last week's Kilkenny People, describing the much-anticipated Muintir Na Tíre community council election in the village of Clogh
FF candidate seeks power with ballad
Ever wonder what the secret to a successful election campaign is? Sound policies? Nope. A well-organised constituency operation? Close, but no cigar. An incredibly annoying campaign song with repetitive lyrics? You got it.
Fianna Fáil's Cllr John Fleming is the latest politician to release a ballad appealing to the electorate for first-preference votes. It's a humble homage to his personal qualities and his quiet dedication to the good people of South Kerry.
The song mentions him as "the greatest man that we have ever known", "the greatest man in Kerry, from Dingle to Rathmore", and "the best thing the Dáil could have".
Evidently, the electorate begged to differ, opting not to elect him to the Dáil when he last stood for election.
FG give Mairead a helping hand
Have Fine Gael apparatchiks been thumbing through self-help books in a bid to boost their election campaign?
It certainly sounds like it. Check out this motivational text message sent out to the party faithful in Louth after its candidate, Mairead McGuinness, wobbled in the polls the other day.
"Hi all, polls show a drop of 5 per cent for Mairead. We need to give as much support as possible. We are the best damn team on the hustings. Let's show them we have the best damn candidate. Thanks. Emir."
Cue outbreaks of whooping, hollering and high-fiving across Louth and environs.
Quote, unquote
"I think he [ Gerry Adams] said that about teachers. I think he said that about corporation tax. Any day now, he'll eliminate income tax. So he would be great. In fact, I'd certainly think of voting for him, because everything would be solved."
- Taoiseach Bertie Ahern trying out a bit of irony when asked about Gerry Adams's offer to give the nurses all they demand.
Election gets hairy as mullet returns
It's the hairstyle that's sweeping the nation. Some misguided souls may ridicule the mullet haircut as an emblem for all that was questionable about 1980s taste. However, a host of election candidates are proudly displaying their long, flowing manes.
The wispy locks of John Bracken - the Independent candidate for Laois/Offaly - have already been displayed in all their glory on these pages.
Now enter Peadar O'Donnell, PD candidate for Tipperary South, and Peter Enright, Green Party candidate for Mayo, who are both causing a stir with their hairstyles.
Our election candidates clearly know something many style gurus don't. The mullet has never gone out of fashion.
Barney Hoskyns, author of The Mullet: Hairstyle of the Gods, confirms this. "We've seen in recent months it has been making a comeback on the catwalks in a sort of ironic way," he says.
If mullet-wearing candidates fare well come election time, expect to see an outbreak of flowing locks on politicians across the country.
Keep Campaign Trail informed of happenings on the hustings by contacting campaigntrail@irish-times.ie