A mature SF head on young shoulders

PEARSE DOHERTY repeatedly stresses his youth, his energy, the fact that he’s the youngest candidate in the field.

And that's all true. He is tall and fresh-faced. Looks like a guy wearing his graduation suit.

Yep, there is the energy and the vigour. But there's no point in overdosing on the age thing because Doherty is as about experienced, as mature, as worldy-wise as they come.

At the aged of 26, Doherty is already a 10-year veteran of his party. He has been almost singularly responsible for its revival in Donegal. Despite its proximity to the North, it was almost moribund for many years before he came on the scene.

When he went forward as a Sinn Féin candidate in the 2002 General Elections, there was a degree of feeling that this was a bit of a novelty act, a candidate who was a native speaker from Gweedore. That dissipated quickly enough when he performed far beyond expectations and marked the cards of the other parties that he would pose a huge threat in 2007. Earlier this year, Doherty was one of the star turns of his party's Árd Fheis. Irrespective of your views on his party's policies and its moral equivalence, Doherty is another of the able, articulate and smart candidates the party has been able to unearth.

Most of the hype surrounding Sinn Féin's European campaign in the South has surrounded Mary Lou McDonald. Until this week, Doherty's name has not been mentioned as a contender, not even by his own party. But his surprise 15% showing in the Irish Examiner/Questions & Answers poll brings forward the possibility that perhaps we have been looking at the wrong Sinn Féin candidate that it is Doherty not McDonald who might make the breakthrough.

And when you think about it, it should not be all that surprising.

There are five Border counties in the consituency and Sinn Féin's upward trajectory nationally should be even more marked here. On the local elections findings, the party is showing at 14%, a nine-point increase on 1999.

For the candidate himself, there is no smidgen of doubt.

"Opinion polls have always underestimated Sinn Féin's strength. . . People know that this is not us just putting a candidate up. People in the North West can make history here," he says.

Doherty has not set out on this campaign as a grooming exercise for 2007, rather to win. He has crisscrossed the massive constituency many times in the past few weeks and has visited Clare (over 200 miles away from his Donegal base) five times.

"I believe I have a chance of taking a seat. We have realistic targets for every county and we are on track in each, and in some cases have exceeded our targets. What we want to do is to put us in a position where we can rely on transfers."

Doherty does not come from a republican background.

The first inkling that his parents had was when they saw a TV report on a local Bloody Sunday rally and saw their teenage son talking to Martin McGuinness.

Doherty set up a Sinn Féin branch in Dublin's Bolton Street where he studied civil engineering. He didn't consider himself ready in 1999 (aged 21) and concentrated on building the party in Donegal.

He announced his own arrival in the 2002 General Elections in Donegal South West when he polled almost 2,700 first preferences. Pulling transfers from right across the board, he ran Fine Gael's Dinny McGinley to within 900 votes.

Originally, Sinn Féin strategists were planning on building on that success and really going after that third seat in the next general election. But when the party realised just how popular Doherty was on the ground they decided to run him in the Euro elections first.

Pearse Doherty is the new breed of Sinn Féin candidate articulate, young, with no paramilitary baggage.

"He is the new kid on the block that has a huge appeal for the young voters and this is a major advantage in a field of nine candidates where only two are under 40," said one seasoned observer.

Doherty himself insists the party is pro-European but qualifies it by saying that there is a counter-veiling need for some Euro-scepticism.

"Europe makes a real difference. Seventy percent of legislation passed here has originated in Europe. People need to be consulted on this.

"We welcome many European issues that have enhanced rights. But we are not afraid to stand up and take a stand," he says.