Tom Parlon - profile: The declaration of the former president of the IFA for the Progressive Democrats in January 2002 was good news for a party which was again facing a fight to survive at above two seats in the general election later that year.
His great strengths of having created a grassroots PD organisation in the midlands out of nothing, coupled with a concentration on rural issues, have also proved to be his greatest weaknesses.
They have seen him develop a reputation for traditional clientelism at the expense of serious policy, where "Parlon Country" takes precedence over the national interest.
From Coolderry, Co Offaly, close to the Co Tipperary border, Mr Parlon became involved in farm politics in his late teens, rising first through the ranks of Macra na Feirme. It was there that he honed his political skills and he later proved to be at his best in a campaign in which he was regarded as the outsider. In 1997, he contested the IFA presidency against the front-runner Michael Slattery. A tense campaign ensued, but Mr Parlon won in a landslide.
During his presidency he mounted a major national protest campaign over beef prices and, coupled with a resolute performance during the foot-and-mouth crisis, became one of the most successful farm leaders of recent decades by the time he stepped down in December 2001.
Courted by a number of parties, he went with the PDs and soon put together a formidable campaign. The now widely-parodied "Welcome to Parlon Country" posters went up. He built a local PD organisation from scratch and went on to take the second seat in Laois/Offaly in May 2002 and was appointed Minister of State for Finance. A strong local base and a solid courting of PD activists around the country meant that he was seen as a potential future leader