‘I have touched positively every home of every parish’

ADJUSTING the collar of his heavy wool overcoat to shield his ears from a biting February breeze, John O’Donoghue strode purposefully through the near deserted streets of the mid Kerry village of Miltown and made an immediate beeline for O’Shea’s pub.

By a blazing log fire inside it was, by comparison, a hive of activity with a small huddle of astute observers of life, in peaked caps and well-worn anoraks, holding court at the counter on what they insisted was a deserved early lunch break from the regular Tuesday sheep sale at Miltown Mart.

Chuffed to accept their local TD’s generous offer of a tipple, the mood was light and the banter was lively as they swung their stools around to engage with the man from Caherciveen.