Former Independent TD Dr Liam Twomey surprised most people in Wexford in the 2002 general election, including himself, when he got elected. Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent, reports.
Now Dr Twomey, who became involved in politics because of problems in Wexford General Hospital, has surprised everyone again by joining Fine Gael.
Though he may have found a new home, he will surely find that he has to replace a substantial percentage of the 5,812 votes that brought him to Leinster House in 2002.
The constituency will be one of the central battlegrounds of the next general election, given Fine Gael's ambitions to take three out of the five seats.
Left dismayed by the decision by the former minister for agriculture, Mr Ivan Yates, to quit politics, Fine Gael struggled badly in the county in 2002.
Enniscorthy-based Mr Paul Kehoe did well to emerge as Fine Gael's sole TD, passing the quota on the third count with 7,048 votes. His involvement in encouraging Dr Twomey into the Fine Gael ranks has done much to establish his reputation with the party leader, Mr Enda Kenny.
Clearly, Mr Kehoe is gambling that Fine Gael can take three seats next time out, including Mr Michael D'Arcy in Gorey, or, at least, that he and Dr Twomey can be returned.
If either option happens, and Fine Gael manages to get into power, Mr Kehoe will have a strong claim to make for a minister of State's position.
Claims in the past have been based on less.
Relations between Mr Kehoe and Mr D'Arcy - the son of former Fine Gael deputy and minister, Mr Michael D'Arcy snr - are said to be poor, local observers comment.
However, Mr D'Arcy has a number of advantages. Fine Gael traditionally has had a strong vote in North Wexford, which currently has no TD of any hue.
His father lost out in 2002 when Fine Gael's tide went out nationally, when he was eliminated on the fifth count with nearly half a quota.
The Gorey end of the constituency is becoming even more important as the area increasingly becomes a dormitory for Dublin. In addition, the local Fianna Fáil organisation did not produce a Dáil candidate in 2002, and tempers will have been frayed by the campaign conduct of Cllr Lorcan Allen.
However, Gorey's growth brings risks as well as advantages for Fine Gael, since the new population will not necessarily share any of the area's traditional political leanings.
In 2002, Dr Twomey was elected with the help of opponents of a proposed incineration plant near Campile, along with those unhappy at the state of Wexford General Hospital.
In addition, he received 1,488 second preferences from the New Ross-based Sinn Féin candidate, Mr John Dwyer, including, it emerged yesterday, from Mr Dwyer himself.
Dr Twomey's hold on these votes next time out will be seriously under threat - particularly since Mr Dwyer has ambitions to be in the final shake-up for seats.
Nearly 1,100 of those votes came from New Ross and its surrounding districts, but the local competition will be stiffer next time out.
Fianna Fáil councillor Mr Seán Connick, who was elected on the third count in last June's local elections, will surely hope to play on a wider stage.
But Dr Twomey will draw hope from the fact that he secured 1,342 preferences from Mr Kehoe after the latter was elected on the sixth count.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil Minister of State, Mr John Browne, who fights out of Enniscorthy, is likely to prove part of the fixture and fittings of Wexford politics.