"PUT Mary in the driving seat," urged the slogans on top of the four turbo jeeps parked outside the Galway launch of the PDs election campaign yesterday. However, the Progressive Democrats leader, Ms Mary Harney, opted to travel by helicopter instead and flew from Dublin for the morning event, before continuing to Tullamore and Portlaoise.
Surrounded by party colleagues and advisers, Ms Harney strode confidently through Eyre Square Shopping Centre shaking hands with passers-by.
Her financial guru, Michael MacDowell, was cornered by an elderly lady as the US-style cavalcade got under way. "You'll have to get Ben Dunne to help you out," she said. Quick as a flash, Mr MacDowell pointed out that the PDs got no money from the wealthy benefactor. "You were Dunne there, so, she replied.
Earlier, Ms Harney made a plea for a clean campaign and almost immediately followed it with an attempt to resurrect the Lowry controversy. The country needed "strong, stable, gender-balanced government", she said.
"It does not need a 4 1/2 party arrangement comprising the three rainbow parties, the Greens, and a few Independents, including Michael Lowry. That is a recipe for bad government.
She moved to counter any suggestion that the PDs might be associated with powerful elites. The greatest challenge facing the next government was to tackle "our two-tier society".
"I want to be part of a government which looks after ordinary people, and not just vested interests and golden circles. I want to narrow the gap between rich and poor, and to evenly distribute the proceeds of our economic boom.
"I want people to live independent lives free of the heavy hand of the State. I want a compassionate and caring society, which is not there to cushion an elite, but to provide real comfort to those who need it most."
Ms Harney denied her party would go into coalition with the Greens and Independents if the post-election arithmetic threw up that possibility. The Greens, she said, were just another left-wing party in favour of high taxes and high spending. They would not be compatible government partners with the PDs.
She was more ambivalent on any vote-transfer pact with Fianna Fail. Despite Fianna Fail's call for transfers to the PDs, the smaller party has made no such commitment.