Frank McNally joins Fianna Fáil's Áine Brady while she's on the campaign trail in Kildare
As the last candidate declared, Ms Áine Brady has a battle to establish name recognition with the voters of Kildare North. But the extent of the challenge only emerges at Naas Farmers' Market on Saturday afternoon.
The woman on the organic vegetable stand has been puzzled by the arrival of a group bearing stickers with the candidate's surname. So when a distinguished-looking man approaches to shake hands, she jumps to the obvious conclusion. "You must be Mr Brady," she says.
The man explains that, no, actually, his name is Bertie Ahern. Unfazed, he proceeds to introduce the Fianna Fáil candidate to the mortified vegetable seller.
"I knew he looked like the Taoiseach," the woman insists, after the group departs.
"But then I thought: what would he be doing here?"
Adding momentum to a campaign that has had to hit the ground running, is the answer.
Last Tuesday Ms Brady was on yard duty at her primary school in Celbridge when word came through that the by-elections were fixed for March 11th.
The mother of four was not even favourite for the FF nomination, but won it on Thursday night at a rushed convention in Maynooth. Her campaign photograph was taken there and then, and dispatched to the printers.
And although she hasn't had time to sort out the details of her teaching leave, the principal says he's not expecting her at work for a while.
Even the most clued-in voters are still catching up with her arrival into the contest. At a housing estate in Kilcock, where the Taoiseach has been replaced as canvass celebrity by Mary Hanafin, a man subjects the candidate to a quickfire Q and A session.
"What's your second name?"
"Brady."
"So's mine! Are you anything to Gerry?"
"I married him."
A pause.
"You're Áine Kitt, so!"
"I was."
Another pause.
"You should be running as Áine Kitt."
In fact, the candidate has Fianna Fáil pedigree under both names. Her husband was a one-term TD in the short-lived Dáil of 1982 - by coincidence, the last government to win a by-election.
By further coincidence, that win was in East Galway, where Áine Kitt and her brother, Government chief whip Tom, were born. So the omens are good for the defence of Charlie McCreevy's seat, although she'll probably need the luck.
Having pinned down the candidate's identity, the man in Kilcock reveals that they both attended the 1977 Fianna Fáil youth conference. But he's non-committal when asked for his vote. "You'll definitely be in there - I won't say where," he tells her. "That's a person's own business."
Her married name could be an unexpected bonus judging by the number of people in Kilcock who seem to share it.
Even Ms Hanafin is a member of the extended Brady bunch, a fact that emerges when the canvassers knock on the door of an elderly man called John Sullivan, originally from Clonmel.
He reminds her that her maternal grandfather owned an electrical goods shop in the town with the slogan "Brady-o for radio". As a child, Mr Sullivan had the job of going in with the two-shilling weekly payment on a wireless set.
More than half a century on, Ms Hanafin thanks him on the family's behalf. "We wouldn't have had a bob only for you!"
A few doors on, a 20-something mother admits she's never voted before but, with apparently genuine interest, asks: "What's this election about?"
The Minister for Education explains patiently that it's a by-election - "an election confined to one particular area".
On a steep learning curve, the young woman learns fast and, turning to the candidate, asks: "So what are you fighting for?"
Ms Brady says schools are a "huge issue". But picking up on the fact that there's a baby inside, she also mentions childcare, and adds: "I've proposed a GP subsidy for children under five."
The young mother remarks that it's "nice to see a woman around for a change", and says maybe she'll vote this time.
Kilcock done and dusted, the canvassers head for Maynooth, passing numerous posters for Fine Gael and Labour, but none for Fianna Fáil. A campaign aide takes a call on his mobile from somebody organising canvass materials, and asking if the candidate's full name should be used.
The aide isn't sure. "The thing we need to get out there is Brady, Brady, Brady," he says.