Labour proves itself to be consumer-durable as its leader goes out shopping for votes in Dún Laoghaire. Frank McNally reports
Monday morning in Blackrock Shopping Centre and, in a happy coincidence, the leader of the Labour Party is standing under a sign saying "Superquinn".
Shoppers come and go, and as they do Mr Quinn hands them copies of his election pledge card, which features special offers in many departments, including health, education and housing.
But the constituency of Dún Laoghaire includes some of Ireland's most sophisticated consumers, always looking for something different. So it's no surprise when Mr Quinn, a socialist, finds himself listening to complaints from a woman who claims her five-year-old son, a pupil at one of Ireland's most exclusive private schools, is a victim of discrimination.
He suffers from dyspraxia, she says, a condition which affects co-ordination. Yet Willow Park Junior School cannot offer the special help he needs. The resources are available at St Mary's in Ballyboden, she adds, ("They're throwing money at the State schools since the Sinnott case"), but she doesn't want him to go there because "all his life he'll say he wasn't good enough to go to Willow Park. And a child's self-esteem is set at seven."
The irony, she tells Mr Quinn, is that if he was attending a Protestant private school the necessary grant would be automatically available. "It's like Penal Laws for the Catholic middle class." He hears her out and moves on.
A law unto itself electorally, Dún Laoghaire is nevertheless a key constituency for Labour if it is to recover from the massacre of 1997. The former minister for education, Niamh Bhreathnach, was one of the most prominent victims of that purge, despite her gift to the middle classes in abolishing third-level fees.
And talking with constituents yesterday, she was still trading on her record in government, with phrases like "I know how the system works".
Boosted by her role in helping defeat the abortion referendum here - Dún Laoghaire had the State's highest No vote - she looks well placed to follow her highly-regarded constituency colleague, Eamon Gilmore, back into the Dáil.
Ironically, another Blackrock shopper says she would "nearly" vote Fianna Fáil this time "because they did what they promised they would do on abortion, even if they lost". Nearly, but probably not. What currently worries her most is the individualisation of tax allowances. "I want to stay at home with my children, but women like me are being discriminated against."
Mr Quinn explains that the party favours rolling back the measure over several budgets, and she is suitably encouraged.
It's not all encouragement for Labour, however. At Dean's Grange, a woman of about 60 dismisses them, saying: "I'm not interested if you're putting up capital gains tax." Mr Quinn replies: "We're putting it up to help people like you", but she is already gone.
Matters improve when a science postgraduate, Greg Finn, says the lack of investment in science is causing a "major brain drain". Given encouraging words by Mr Quinn, he reciprocates: "We should never have a single party in government again. You always need somebody to keep Fianna Fáil in check".
However, that party's continued presence in government is assumed. And when the Labour canvass moves on, the young scientist admits he would be equally happy with an FF-Labour combination or a resumed FF-PD one. "Anything apart from Fine Gael. They worry me with the sort of promises they're making."