Doting women put a spring in Gerry’s step
It quickly became obvious why. Every few feet he was accosted by more doting women than a film actor. Mildly embarrassed, he smiled his way through their hugs and words of admiration before fleeing off down the pedestrianised streets again.
Asked why she liked him, one foreign-looking woman who managed to hold onto his hand for several minutes explained: "An Irishman told me all about him, being in jail and educating himself, and the IRA. I love him. I think he is great." After the quick tour of Galway city centre, the small group piled into taxis and headed to St Joseph's Community Centre in Shantala. Their driver for the day, Mike Mullins, was a local man who had problems with his English landlord over the building where his family had a butchers shop for three generations.
"They were the only ones who tried to help me," he said. Nothing violent, he said. Just personal support, calling in to ask how he was coping and offering advice. After 13 years he won his case, sold the city centre shop and took a year off. "I'm just returning the favour driving them around," he said. Local candidates Ann-Marie Carroll and Conan Campbell whose twin Noel is looking for a seat in Castlebar led Mr Adams and Euro candidate Pearse O'Doherty to a number of houses in this respectable working-class neighbourhood.
"I won't wash my hand for six weeks," said Mary McGuckin after shaking hands with the party leader. "I've always been a great admirer and so was my late husband," she said.
Outside the community centre he was met by Joe Darcy whose father Tony died on hunger strike in Mountjoy jail in 1940 at 32. "We went through a lot and we lost a lot. Some people think we are selling out helping this crowd now, but it's our own business," he said.
His father was serving time for not being able to account for his movements. He died after 52 days on hunger strike with less than a week to go to the end of his jail term. "De Valera would not let him out and would not recognise them as political prisoners," he said.
Skinny young men wearing identical black trousers, zip-up jackets and Easter lily pins kept a watchful eye as the uachtaráin of Sinn Féin took his place at the top table to address the meeting organised by the Quirk-Haire Cumann.
First up was Ann-Marie Carroll, a mother-of-five and one of the few mothers in Ireland this year with a daughter becoming a nun. "I was heartbroken," she said afterwards when asked how she felt about it. But on polling day, when she hopes to be the first Sinn Féin member elected to the city council, she will be in Sligo attending a celebration Mass before her eldest daughter, Donna, leaves to study in Rome. Addressing the meeting she talked of carers' allowances, affordable housing and the establishment parties representing only business people and developers.
Mr Adams took up a similar theme, getting a resounding No to his question: "Does anybody here know there is a Celtic Tiger?"
He talked about wanting people to endorse the party's position on the peace process and on the need to end partition. "But we are also about making changes now and we do not want to wait until the Éire nua," he said.
Pearse O'Doherty spoke about empowering local communities and bringing them into the heart of Europe. He promised that he would do this through working with local politicians, like Ann-Marie Carroll.
The 24-year-old Donegal man sees himself as having an outside chance of taking one of the three seats in North West. If he does, he will hand over his annual MEPs salary of €80,000-plus to the party and receive the average industrial wage of about €28,000 in return. One of those who queued to meet Mr Adams after the meeting was Antonio Lusevi, from Angola, who has a baby daughter, Mary, with his Zimbabwean wife. They can stay in Ireland and have a vote, thanks to their Irish daughter.
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