Paul Murphy’s election pitch may be a tad blunt for some lunchtime shoppers at the Nutgrove Shopping Centre in Rathfarnham, Dublin.

"If we wipe the Labour Party out for all their betrayals, and we get at Fine Gael, we can get them out," the Dublin Socialist MEP tells one voter. "You've got to use your vote as a weapon. Cause a crisis within the Labour Party, a crisis within the Government. They are already feeling pressure. You've seen all the squabbling between Labour and Fine Gael."

Given the anger and disillusionment of many voters, Murphy and party leader Joe Higgins, who was with him on the canvass, get a willing ear from some for their "tear 'em down to build it up" message.

“It’s really the house tax that gets me,” says John McBride from Terenure. “As long as Labour don’t get in.”

Murphy has styled himself as the anti-water tax candidate, yet there are some mixed views on the charge among people in Nutgrove, with a few saying water should be paid for.

While it is a quiet canvass – Liffey Valley was more fruitful, Higgins says – Murphy is successful in translating disillusionment with the established parties into promises of votes.

Others politely decline his literature and walk on while one couple open up on Higgins and Murphy on their “negativity”.

"Ah Joe, stop moaning," says Phil Bollard from Rathfarnham, out shopping with her husband Donal. "You're always giving out. What will you do?"

“But we’re explaining it,” replies Murphy, claiming consumer confidence is still on the floor.

“Most of the fellas who have businesses say it’s picking up a bit,” says Donal in disagreement.

Higgins claims the Government is a "carbon copy, to the letter, of Fianna Fáil and the Greens".

Donal sticks to his point. “I think they’re doing their best in the circumstances.”

Shifts
Murphy is not the only hard-left candidate standing for the European Parliament in Dublin. People Before Profit's Bríd Smith spent yesterday morning canvassing workers as they came on and off shifts in An Post, CIÉ and Cadbury's.

The Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll put Smith and Murphy within one percentage point of each other, on seven and six respectively. They both reckon it might be enough to get one of them over the line, if they transfer strongly to each other.

Smith's canvassing style is chattier and lighter than Murphy's as she works for votes outside the CIÉ/Dublin Bus canteen at Earl Place, behind Clerys on O'Connell Street.

Her 10am canvass is timed to meet as many drivers as possible as they take a break after the morning rush hour. Many know of her from her time as a shop steward in Dublin Bus and her long association with trade unions.

Martin Christie from Finglas, who left Sinn Féin a decade ago, says he'll vote for her, and they chat about the left in Dublin. Smith, who is also seeking re-election as a city councillor for the Ballyfermot-Drimnagh ward, believes she and Murphy complement each other.

Policy difference
When asked if only one of them should have stood in the election, Smith not unreasonably points out there is as much policy difference between her and Murphy as there is between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

"Why don't you ask Brian Hayes why he is running against Mary Fitzpatrick? They're the feckin' same," she says. "I've got sick of listening to Mary Fitzpatrick, Brian Hayes, Eamon Ryan, Emer Costello saying the same feckin' thing night after night. I often wonder do any of them have an independent thought."

While praising the progress of the aforementioned Shinners, their rise is not without concern. “You’d never hear them mention socialism now. They are going more mainstream, they’re nowhere near the 32-county sovereignty they used to be,” she says. “They are doing brilliantly, and I won’t take that away from them, but there are concerns at activist level.”

Higgins also says Sinn Féin are heading down the Labour path; the hard left are ready to stay where they are.