DESPITE FIGHTING words to the contrary, Fine Gael’s footsoldiers and some of the officer corps have gone AWOL as the party suffers heavy losses in the battle to rescue Gay Mitchell’s presidential campaign.

Yesterday morning, director of elections Charlie Flanagan had to “utterly refute” a newspaper report that party insiders have accepted Mitchell’s chances for the presidency are “doomed”. Flanagan is sticking bravely to his unenviable task.

At the party’s campaign launch on Monday, the Laois-Offaly TD said he wanted to nail the myth that not everyone in Fine Gael was pulling their weight. “Over the last few weeks, every member of Fine Gael has been working around the clock for Gay Mitchell.”

In yesterday’s statement, he said: “The party is four square behind Gay Mitchell’s presidential campaign. Canvassing on the ground is only now hitting a high gear.” He added: “Quoting anonymous insiders is a pointless exercise, as these alleged quotes could come from anyone or anywhere”.

Late on Thursday afternoon, Fine Gael TDs and Senators received a letter from a named insider in Leinster House – one Charlie Flanagan, who is also chairman of the parliamentary party. It wasn’t half as bullish as public utterances from himself and the leadership have been.

It begins: “I asked earlier in the week that you would let me have details of your Facebook/Twitter operator in your office to assist in Gay’s campaign. I received a mere 33 replies! This is just 30 per cent!!” exclaims Charlie.

While he accepts that “everyone is busy”, he urges his colleagues to put in “a special effort” to boost the campaign.

And it’s not much better on the ground. “I have been in contact with the FG regional organisers and I’ve received mixed reports on the posters, literature and canvass,” writes the director of elections. “In some constituencies, there is little or no activity.”

Indeed, we hear that in one midlands constituency, a local man who specialises in putting up auctioneers’ boards was hired to put up the Mitchell posters because they couldn’t get any Fine Gael volunteers to do the work.

In Leinster House on Thursday, after the result of the second opinion poll confirmed Mitchell’s disastrous showing, Fine Gael deputies and Senators sounded shell-shocked by the extent of the slide.

Party leader Enda Kenny wasn’t his usual chatty self when he went to the canteen for a late bite of lunch with his adviser, Mark Kennelly. They both looked rather glum.

But the unsinkable Charlie Flanagan is not giving up. Three big rallies have been arranged for Limerick, Cork and Dublin, and both Gay and the Taoiseach will speak at them. “Many thanks for your work to date. Please make the extra effort. With a low turnout, getting our vote out is crucial and it’s very much all to play for.”

Sadly for Charlie, many of his FG comrades don’t share in his optimism.

He can only hope they’ll be embarrassed into action. Still, they’ll have great fun blaming each other afterwards.

It’s so much different in the Labour Party, where politicians and supporters are turning out in force to help their Michael D.

In fact, we hear members of the parliamentary party have each contributed €1,000 to his election fund.