Labour in 'doorsteps plan' to cash-in on that predicted surge in popularity

Recent weeks have been dominated by the incredible gyrations of Fine Gael. Indeed the carry on may well have given at least one decent election poster to FF – showing that ‘Gang of Nine’ who had no confidence in leader Enda Kenny.

But others have been spending their time more productively – like Labour in Galway East, which has been carrying on a widescale door-to-door ‘getting to know you’ exercise with the electorate, which may yet prove very useful indeed in the hopes of some like Councillor Colm Keaveney.

Keaveney tells me that on one recent Saturday, there were 19 teams-of-two Labour workers out in Galway East in places like Athenry, Tuam and Headford. They were going door-to-door asking about the issues and the problems people have in the midst of our worst ever recession – problems such as crushing unemployment, or difficulties with bills like mortgages and even the utilities such as electricity.

“The reception was very cordial at the doorsteps . . . people said they were glad to see us at a time when there wasn’t an election,” said Keaveney, a contender for the Labour ticket in Galway East next time out, though ‘sure-fire contender’ would probably be more appropriate a label at this stage.

“People are engaging with us at the doorsteps and part of what we are at is gathering information for a study on the difficulties facing people in the West, the findings of which will be issued at a major conference to be held in the west in the coming months,” added Keaveney.

That business of meeting the voters at a time other than an election, does get over the problem of a potentially difficult electorate who may be very prepared to hurl the old accusation at the next election . . . “how come we only see you guys when it comes to election time?”

I remember when strides were being made in Galway by the then Workers Party (later subsumed into Labour in the person of people like Eamon Gilmore and Pat Rabbitte), and one of the reasons they began to make political headway was that – once in every few weeks – they would deliver a newsletter door-to-door in Galway City. It got to the point where their then candidate, Jimmy Brick, became well known to the voters as a regular caller.

A long time before the last Local Elections, some in Fianna Fáil in Galway City – like Cllr Peter Keane – took to the doorsteps facing people to find out just what the reaction was to Fianna Fáil and to “face the music”. They were certainly given credit by many of the voters they met for the fact that they were prepared to come to the doorsteps and argue their case.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.