"IS it him?" The enemy lines up in the distance, in their midst a stocky figure, light green jacket and a nut brown dome.
"It is him, isn't it? I think they're looking at us."
Some shuffling in the ranks. This is a time for leadership.
The campaigns of Ruairi Quinn and Mary Harney have collided outside a south Dublin church. Harney shouldn't be here. The Progressive Democrats leader has made an incursion from her Dublin South West constituency onto Quinn's South Central turf. The church at Willington is outside Harney's border but many of her voters fill its pews on Sundays.
Two paths lead from the church door. Harney and her crew block the path into Dublin South West, Quinn's troops are on the far path, to grab the South Central faithful.
This isn't good. Two national figures, one a party leader and the other allegedly a leader in waiting, and they won't even exchange courtesies?
Quinn's group is obviously having the same thoughts but Harney has a plan. Beside her is a man is selling punnets of strawberries. With sudden inspiration she seizes one and turns to a suit beside her. "Pay the man," she says. "Party leaders don't carry money."
Then she stalks across the grass, a purposeful figure, surrounded by flunkies, strawberries to the fore. Quinn and his group, having missed their chance to take the initiative, must wait.
"Welcome to Dublin South Central," he says weakly.
"Have a strawberry," replies the voice of leadership.
In truth, there's little fun at church gates, particularly for party leaders in large urban areas where Mass attendance has fallen. Too few voters, too much ground to cover. Harney grabs as many hands as she can then jumps into a black BMW to zoom to the next church. Along with her running mate Colm Tyndall (no chance) she gets to five churches although two are empty when they arrive.
Most of the morning is spent around the more prosperous western side of the constituency, which includes Rathcoole and Newcastle, Harney's home town.
While the electors respond well, Harney herself is reserved. Only one Massgoer wants a row - over PD plans to reduce public sector employment and limit welfare payments for unmarried mothers - "a disgrace!".
Most say "hello" and "good luck" and walk on. PD and Fianna Fail voters, or opposition supporters being nice? "It's impossible to say," says a party worker.
Arriving at Kingswood, national politics intrudes. Harney's television debate with Dick Spring has been fixed for tonight. Does she think it will make much difference to the outcome?
"If it had been held earlier in the campaign you'd have more of an impact. But now you're talking about influencing the `don't knows'," she says.