"I have somewhat of a reputation as a male chauvinist and I am a male chauvinist. I'm a little miffed that this election is being fought by four women. I don't think that's a healthy sign."
Brendan McGahon's words of welcome to Mary Banotti made an unpromising start to her day of campaigning in Dundalk yesterday, but he went on to make up for it by claiming her as the only "legitimate" candidate in the field. "It is a political office," he said, "and Mary Banotti is the only legitimate candidate."
Striving to establish the difference between her and the other candidates, Ms Banotti and Fine Gael are clearly seeking to make a virtue of her political pedigree. "Politics brought a great deal of grief to my family," she told the representatives of 26 voluntary and community organisations assembled in the Derryvale hotel.
"My mother grew up in the shadow of the death of her uncle, Michael Collins. Two days ago, we visited the house her family was burned out of when she was 10. She was so desperate that her schoolbag was still inside that she ran back into the house", thereby touching on another important theme - her own and her family's commitment to education.
She stressed her political experience as well as background. Steering a report on people with disabilities through the European Parliament, with input from their lobby groups, was political. "I don't just want warm touchy-feely words on these issues, I want real facts and action," she said.
She paid tribute to the people she was addressing and people like them throughout the State. "We must celebrate the people who work in communities, in different areas. The job they do is absolutely vital."
She also stressed the importance of business, invoking once more the ghost of Michael Collins, who now, thanks to Neil Jordan, is managing to make Fine Gael positively sexy. "My great-uncle said his hope for Ireland was for a country which could produce goods which people wanted, and that's how I see it too," she said - a line which never appeared in Jordan's script.
Her final words to the community groups were in defence of politicians, coming from the only professional politician in the campaign: "Remember, it's the politicians who have given us the stability we've enjoyed here for so long."
Her next appointment was with a disabled access group in Courtney's pub, a refurbished establishment which boasts access and special facilities for the disabled as well as a lot of "distressed" pine furniture.
Here, Ms Banotti was on sure ground. She came, she said, to listen, but she was able to outline the content of her report in plain language to the group, and explain how it could be used as a basis for legislation and for pressurising public bodies. She got a warm welcome and pledges of support.
Perched on a bar stool, arm outstretched along the wall as she listened intently, she was more the relaxed MEP known to journalists at the European Parliament.
And after a private lunch, she devoted more than two hours to 550 people who cannot even vote.
Some months ago she had agreed to present prizes to the pupils of Dundalk grammar school. Welcomed by the headmaster as "someone who has always struggled for pluralism", she presented prizes for subjects as wide-ranging as computer literacy, presentation and neatness and IDA work experience, as well as academic excellence, before speaking again of the importance of education and its role in breaking down barriers.