Assessment: He has toned down from being "Mr Angry", but Ruairí Quinn still has Labour street cred, writes Alison O'Connor, Political Reporter
People eventually stopped asking Ruairí Quinn whether he will rule out Fianna Fáil as a possible coalition partner. Just as he wished, he is facing into the general election with his options open.
The Labour leader likes to stress that he is not interested in power simply for the sake of it. But Ruairí Quinn knows his party is weary of opposition and expects him to lead it into government in May. If he wishes to continue in his job, Labour will have to form part of the next coalition.
Despite the party's poor showings in national opinion polls, Mr Quinn says Labour is the only large party that can confidently talk about an increase of up to 25 per cent in its Dáil representation.
The party currently has 21 seats including that of Ceann Comhairle Seamus Pattison. He believes it will win "anything from a minimum of 25 to over 30", with a number of those gains in Dublin.
Elected leader 4½ years ago, Ruairí Quinn took over from Dick Spring, who was standing down. He is seen by colleagues as a less remote leader with a kitchen cabinet mostly made up of people from the parliamentary party rather than influential non-elected advisers.
Despite the poor polls there has been little obvious criticism of his leadership from within the party ranks. The poll position is similar to that before the 1992 general election, which resulted in such success for the party. The memory of this is providing comfort at present. He appears relaxed and ready for the election. Mr Quinn has toned down his performances in the Dáil having earned the tag, (not unfairly), of "Mr Angry from Sandymount" - the regularity of his outrage rendering it almost meaningless. He is acknowledged as being a nice, sincere man but, paradoxically, the public feel there is an air of remoteness about him. They think they don't really know him.
His performance in the Late Late Show debate with Gerry Adams did nothing to improve this - although his "get the bastards out" remark about Fianna Fáil at the Labour Christmas party appeared to add to his street cred.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan are regularly satirised but it is difficult to remember a time when Ruairí Quinn has featured in such a manner. The video insert at his party conference last weekend attempted to redress that, with the intention of conveying a message about him and what he stands for personally.
Sitting in the kitchen of his tastefully decorated home in Sandymount, he spoke about the breakdown of his first marriage, in an interview with broadcaster Doireann Ní Bhríain. It worked as an idea and made for a nice tableau, if appearing somewhat cosy.
His affluent image has not always coincided well with his leadership of a left-wing party. He smoked a fat cigar throughout this interview, which was conducted in his Leinster House office, but this rich habit seems to be something he only does in private.
He heaped equal amounts of criticism on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael last weekend, re-emphasising Labour's intention to stand as an independent party in the election.