Even EU politics is local for Mitchell

HE SPOTS her straight away. “Eileen! How’s the cherry blossom?” asks Gay Mitchell.

Eileen Brennan is delighted, and well she might be. Thanks to her Fine Gael European election candidate a tree in honour of her recently deceased mother now stands in Kildare's Japanese gardens.

"She's studying Buddhism and wanted a Japanese cherry blossom planted in Japan," explains Gay. "The Japanese embassy were very helpful but we had to settle for Kildare."