DRAPIER/An Insider's Guide to Politics: As Drapier said last week, it is not easy for somebody involved in an election campaign to write sanely about it. By this stage, with a week to go, nerves are even more frayed, energy levels are dipping and the wildest rumours take on the appearance of credibility.
The strange thing too about being a candidate is that you become almost oblivious to the media battle which is waging all round you - and a battle which will determine how very many people will vote.
For the candidate the focus is almost entirely local and personal; letters or missives from headquarters are an intrusion, regarded with suspicion if not paranoia.
As a result, the great battle in the papers and on the airwaves passes most candidates by.
Canvassing starts ever earlier so there is no time to read the papers, Morning Ireland passes by in a blur as the day's schedule is put into place, canvassers are phoned and the advice of key mentors is sought.
Then it is off out to the canvass. The ten o'clock Mass will catch the older voter; nobody in much of a hurry, plenty of time to put a point or two and to have a few strong points made to you.
The big housing estates are no-go areas during much of the day as most are two-income families, empty since before 8 a.m. when the kids were left into childcare or brought to school.
Even in the evenings large estates are not the most receptive to canvassers given that both husband and wife are usually flogged out by the time they get home and have little desire to be distracted.
The result is that it is more and more difficult to get people in a congenial mood. It is not that people are impolite. Far from it, but unless they actually have a candidate on the doorstep they see little point in talking to old-style canvassers. There is no aggression, no rudeness and no rawness, such as was often the case even a decade ago.
Even the after-Mass meetings in the country are a rarity now. People are not going to stand around for half an hour listening to windy oratory when, unlike in the past, they have so many other diversions.
Shopping centres have assumed a new importance. They have become the new meccas of our civilisations and at least you are sure of getting a decent crowd at all times.
But you are also in danger of coming up against your own running mates, and maybe two or three other parties as well, especially at the busy shopping times.
Drapier is not sure what the net impact of all this amounts to. On the one hand it creates a sense of presence and a sense that you are taking the trouble to impress them and to win them over. It shows that you regard it as important to ask them for their vote.
Or it may be that you just get in the way even more, and they regard us all as a little bit bonkers.
On balance, Drapier thinks it is important to have a presence otherwise people will feel you are taking them for granted and that you don't think it worth your while to ask them for their vote - even though they pretend to half resent being asked. It's a funny old world.
The irony of all the electioneering is that most candidates are so busy campaigning in their constituency that the national campaign passes over their heads.
They get reports that their fellow gutted his opponent on Prime Time, that somebody else came across badly, that some opponent made an outrageous statement and it should be answered straight away or that somebody headquarters put on television is a real switch-off and should not be let out again.
There is little a candidate can do about any of this. What does make an impact, however, is when the performance of some colleague is flung at him on the doorstep. He has to make a quick judgement call - is this a bona fide voter or is it a ruse by a political opponent to delay and demoralise him.
In rural areas it is easier to identify genuine outrage from the spurious and the mischievous, and if the same episode is raised more than once then it is time to send a rocket to headquarters - not that they will listen to you up there anyway.
In earlier times the end of the day provided some relaxation, a chance to meet the canvassers, chat to them and sink a quiet pint or two.
Not any more. Now by the end of the average day there will be small interest groups to meet, residents associations, or people with specific grievances and these people expect to be taken seriously.And they will not accept vacuous or blathery responses.
Also at the end of the day there will be all sorts of problems raised on the canvass to be sorted out and responded too. And the response must come within 24 hours or it will be too late.
We all know that most interest groups and constituents play us off against each other. It happens all the time, especially during a campaign,and there is nothing we can do about it. Sometimes there may be a vote in it, but frequently not. But we know too that not to respond will result in loud bad-mouthing, which all of us can do without.
Drapier said last week that the mood was polite and disengaged, that people were not reacting. That now seems to be changing.
Over the last few days he has found a much greater willingness to get involved, far more questioning on the issues and especially on the issues of health and crime - they have come right back to the top of the list.
But local grievances are also figuring largely and candidates with strong local records of effective hard work are going into this election with a very real advantage.
The mood would also suggest that apathy may be a big factor. Few young people are particularly switched on and Drapier would not be surprised to see a low turnout, certainly among this category of voter.
Drapier also thinks that the don't know factor is higher than stated in the polls, and suspects that many will not make up their minds at all before the election and may not even bother to vote.
So in a real sense there is a challenge there to all of the parties and an opportunity to persuade these people to vote one way or the other before next week.
Unlike others writing in this paper, Drapier is a practitioner not a pundit. He has no intention of predicting which of his colleague will or will not be elected.
That's a job for the commentators. All Drapier can do at this stage is wish all his colleagues well in the remaining week and hope that their results, whatever they be, will be what is best for them.