IN boxing parlance. Fianna Fail punched its weight and used every ounce of muscle to extract the best possible result. The strategy of vote management and reducing the number of candidates to a minimum worked spectacularly well to yield 77 seats from a vote share of under 40 per cent.
In the words of Mr Bertie Ahern's close confidant, Mr Chris Wall, Fianna Fail bran a typical, old fashioned 1950s style campaign but this time they had TV cameras". At £1 million, it also cost a good deal more than previous campaigns.
But the plans for the 1997 election were not laid in a day. They got under way as soon as Mr Ahern became leader in 1994, and the entire operation eventually involved a cast of thousands, in addition to three key committees, there was also a number of individuals handlers, advisers and officials - to steer the party through the most meticulously planned election campaign in its history.
The single most critical element of the project was to manage the party's votes to maximise Dail seats. The plan to vote manage seriously was devised nine months ago when the party finance spokesman, Mr Charlie McCreevy, and Mr Wall met at the home of Mr P.J. Mara, the former government press secretary who assumed the role of national director of elections. Fianna Fail had in the past paid lipservice to the idea of craftily handling its vote share but had rarely implemented a cohesive policy.
This time, however, it embarked on a more constructive approach which, with the exception of Westmeath, worked in all cases and netted the party an extra seven seats.
Following the conversation with Mr McCreevy and Mr Wall, Mr Mara persuaded party officers and a committee headed by the former European Commissioner, Mr Ray MacSharry, to go for the minimum number of candidates to spread the vote thicker. Mr Mara then worked with the various local organisations to devise vote management strategies. Conscious that Fianna Fail had thrown away seats because of poor vote husbandry, candidates and local directors of election were convinced to use the strategy. Rather than allowing the stronger candidate to get all the number one votes, constituencies were divided in internal transfer arrangements so that support was spread evenly among the candidates.
It worked most crucially in Mr Ahern's own constituency, Dublin Central; Dun Laoghaire; Dublin North, and in the two Cork city constituencies. Seeking transfers from the PDs also helped secure some seats.
Shortly after Mr Ahern's elevation in 1994, a communications group was set up under the chairmanship of Mr Mara. Mr Wall was also deeply involved in the group.
One of the chief functions of the communications group was to establish the issues on which the election would be fought. A market research company, Behaviour and Attitudes, provided polling data and research right up to the eve of the election.
Later on Eoin O'Connor, a longtime friend of Mr Ahern and a partner in O'Connor O'Sullivan, an advertising agency in Dublin advised, while other people like Mr Phil Walsh, from the Power of Seven, a creative design agency, produced "concepts" for advertising.
The former Finance Minister and European Commissioner, Mr MacSharry, headed up the Candidate identification and Selection Committee which, for 18 months, looked at each constituency to identify appropriate candidates. To avoid panic closer to the election, it decided on early conventions and later added or subtracted candidates.
The ex IDA chief, Mr Padraig White, threw his weight behind the Policy Preparation and Development Committee, working with the party leader's special adviser, Dr Martin Mansergh. (Fianna Fail ended up producing about 34 policy documents on everything from crime to heritage).
Then there was the other piece in the campaign jigsaw the Election Committee into which members of the other groups were subsumed. This division was headed by Mr Mara and backed up by senior figures in the party like Dr Mansergh, the general secretary, Mr Pat Farrell, and Mr Gerry Hickey, formerly of Irish Ferries.
On the script writing side was Mr Paddy Duffy; Mr Jackie Gallagher, former Irish Times journalist and now senior party researcher, assumed charge of the media campaign; and Ms Mandy Johnston, press officer, liaised directly with the print and broadcasting media. Mr Martin Macken, from the party's MEP members office in Molesworth Street, also assisted.
When Mr Ahern eventually took to the road in the quest for votes, he was accompanied by Mr Marty Whelan, who acted as his personal bodyguard in the many media scrums.
From the outset, party handlers believed they had, in Mr Ahern, the key to winning the election, or at least to spearheading the next government. They had, they said a highly personable commodity which, in the heat of a flesh pressing campaign, the Government would find hard in counter. So his handlers sent him on a mission to shake as many hands as he could reach, presenting an image of youthful, enthusiastic leadership.
Every morning, he held a press conference to brief journalists before leaving, for the canvass and the accessibility did him no harm.
With the exception of two small glitches - when Mr John Browne in Waterford mumbled protests at the notion of an alliance with the PDs and then Mr Danny Wallace called for action on abortion - the campaign, coasted unhindered to its conclusion.
Ironically, after all the planning it was the disastrous performance of the PDs which prevented Mr Ahern from sailing directly into government.