"A good-looking woman like you should be in the Dail, not over in Europe."
It's not the usual greeting Patricia McKenna gets on the doorsteps, but none the worse for that. An afternoon's canvassing for the European elections is under way in the Liberties area of Dublin, and the tousle-haired gent, a white towel wrapped about his nether regions, is hearty in his welcome.
"Sure I'll be bearing you in mind when I go to vote," he laughs.
The Green Party candidate for Dublin is unfazed moving up Reginald Street. By her livery she will not be missed - in pale green trousers, a green mac and green floral scarf, the feisty wee Monaghan lass is full of chat, saying that she tried to buy a house around here "years ago", but couldn't get the mortgage for £8,000.
The streets are almost deserted on this bank holiday Monday, despite the fact that the Liberties Festival is happening somewhere in the area. An elderly lady trudges in our direction and Patricia hurries excitedly towards her.
"Hello, I'm Patricia McKenna and I'm your Green Party candidate. I hope you'll bear me in mind on Friday," she says shaking her hand vigorously.
She zips to the other side of the road and stretches to ring a doorbell. It's too high and so she raps her hand on the door-window instead.
"Auch," she laughs. "When I was working in a supermarket when I was 15 I had to stand on a box behind the counter I was so small." It's on to Brabazon Square, one of the four squares of tiny cottages off Reginald Street. Most houses are empty for the day, and so leaflets are left by Patricia and her three helpers, Grattan Healy, Mary Bowers and Patricia's sister, Brenda McKenna.
At one a man of about 25, dressed in jeans and a white sweat-shirt, opens the door. "Oh, hiya. Yeah," he says, examining the flyer he has just been handed, "I'm thinking of doing something different, so I might give you a vote. My mother in Templeogue is definitely voting for you. She said you were the one that took them to court when the papers weren't giving you enough coverage."
Prompted to explain the nuances of the McKenna judgment and why she took the Government to court, she seems to impress him.
"Well, I'll more than definitely, likely will . . . Jesus, you're making me nervous now," he splutters.
She has a way of doing that. She says Bertie Ahern's statement last month that politics would be better off without her is a testament to this. "They're targeting my seat because they think the Greens are an easy target and because they really would rather I wasn't around," she says. "I can tell you I have had some uncomfortable experiences because I wouldn't fall in with their cosy consensus."
So why isn't a "good-looking woman" going for the Dail, where perhaps she could unsettle "them" even more?
"Well I got into politics through wider European issues. And do you know why else? Because, when you see how enormous is Europe's impact on Ireland, you see it's probably more important to unsettle them there than it is to unsettle them here."
