The Taoiseach finds the going hot but jovial during his tour of Co Cavan, writes Ronan McGreevy
IT'S GETTING hot on the campaign trail, too hot for Taoiseach Brian Cowen, who discarded his jacket as he alighted the Fianna Fáil Yes bus in Cootehill, Co Cavan.
Warm shafts of evening sunshine fell on Cootehill's wide main street, a peculiarity of Border towns.
The Taoiseach may have exchanged some words with the Opposition in relation to the Lisbon Treaty, but the first person to greet him off the bus was the Fine Gael mayor of the town, Cllr Vincent McCaul.
Next up was the president of the local Fianna Fáil cumann, Phil Sexton, and its oldest member at 84.
A warm smattering of applause came from the members of the Ballybay Cootehill Youth Cafe as the Taoiseach arrived.
"Where's the young people?" he said, later seeking them out for a photocall.
A child in a push chair bore the slogan: "I might be small, but I think big" - a theme the Taoiseach had spoken of at an earlier press conference that Ireland had always had an influence in Europe which was greater than its size.
The Taoiseach toured the town in the company of Minister for Agriculture and local TD Brendan Smith, who either knew everybody or knew someone who knew everybody.
"Good luck to you. yaboyya," said one passerby, giving the new Taoiseach a typical Cavan welcome.
"Thanks very much," came the reply.
"You're welcome, yaboyya."
Others wanted to talk about the perennial topic and it was not our place in Europe.
"You brought the weather with ya," Cowen was told as he squinted into the late evening sun.
At one stage he was ushered into a doorway and asked to pose with a Cavan shirt which appeared on the small side.
"Wait 'til I get ya a bigger one," he was told undiplomatically.
"We don't want to ignore our foreign nationals," said one of his entourage, guiding him to the bemused Chinese workers of a local take-away.
Then it was on to the doorway of Mullen's pub, where proprietor Kieran Mullen had a pint of Guinness at the ready.
"Take a wee sip," he said.
Cowen took him at his word and marched on.
Then it was on to Cavan town and the senior ladies football team who have just won Division III of the national league, beating Offaly along the way.
"We'll get ya again," the Taoiseach muttered, before returning to the battle bus.