Party organisation runs as smooth as clockwork
Labour TD Willie Penrose's henchmen are a case in point. Capitalising on Willie's own enthusiasm for representing his constituents in Mullingar West, Co Westmeath, they have devised a strategy that ensures a poll-topping performance for the married barrister each time out. This time round he's not running because of the dual mandate.
In the 1999 local elections Willie captured 2,410 first preference votes, over two-and-a-half times the quota, making him the leading vote-getter of all 1,838 candidates.
He followed up his local success at national level in the 2002 General Election with a poll-topping performance that resulted in Labour getting its biggest share of first preference votes in Westmeath.
Nevertheless, the party dropped seats in both elections, begging the question, how did Willie buck the trend? The passion of Peter Donnellan Labour's director of elections in Mullingar West since 1984 is a big factor.
The day I arrive to interview Willie, Peter tells me he's been up since 7am.
"I had to download campaign material from my computer before the electricity went off at noon, we were warned yesterday it would be off for a while," he says.
I asked him what time he finished up the night before. "I was canvassing for Willie until 10.30pm and when he called up at 11.30pm, he wanted to know why I was not still canvassing. His passion is almost frightening."
Willie's approach has always been hands on, he was a branch secretary when he was just 13.
Equally he has always recognised that the party's success is more important than any one individual.
"I suppose part of the success is that as far as Willie is concerned, it's not just about Willie Penrose. I mean he has talents, he is an exceptional TD, but he has also ensured that the party has come along. It can be quite hard, branches can get lazy, so Willie makes sure to attend all the AGMs. We're always in the market for new members," Peter says.
Willie says he is not interested "in building an individual fiefdom".
Nonetheless, he takes his job as representative of the people of Mullingar West as seriously as if he were representing a client in court.
So do Peter and Willie Moore, chairpersons of the constituency council, men who have worked tirelessly at building up Labour membership. There are now 500 paid-up Labour party members in Mullingar West. No vote is taken for granted.
"We never pass a door, we make no assumptions or presumptions, we always ask for a vote. Mary Robinson's successful presidential campaign taught us that it showed for the first time people were not just voting the way their mothers and fathers had, it was the first dent in the graveyard vote. It was a seminal change," Willie says. They select candidates from people who genuinely want to represent the people.
"We're not interested in the greedy 'I'm all right Jack' philosophy that underpins the right of centre parties, we want candidates who represent the 'we' rather than the 'me'," says Willie.
Candidates are drawn from a broad cross-section of the community to maximise vote-pulling potential. Labour councillor Betty Doran was the first woman to get elected to Mullingar Town Council, allowing the party to capitalise on having the only female representation on the council.
Dan McCarthy, a legendary agitator for land reform, was convinced to run in 1999, bringing in a huge rural vote. Two businessmen (not the perception of what would normally run for Labour) are standing for Athlone Town Council this time round.
I ask Willie and Peter if they feel threatened by the growing popularity of Sinn Féin in 1999 Sinn Féin took much of Labour's traditional working-class core vote and if they have studied the secret of Sinn Féin's growing success.
"No," says Peter. "We don't believe in over-analysing other parties' performances, we just work on improving ourselves.
"It's nearly too simple. There is no magic formula. If the electorate believes you have a credible candidate, you will get their vote. That candidate must then stay in touch with the people who elect him/her. "Our philosophy is as soon as one election is over, the preparation for the next election begins."
