Pauline Flanagan is well able to walk at a right good pace.
As she powers on down Colliers Lane on a bitterly cold Friday evening, leaving her team of canvassers in her wake, we remark on the speed she’s going at.
“Well, I am in a rush,” she says, who is managing this campaign while also fulfilling the day job as a lecturer in SETU Carlow.
This is her fourth election to fight, and this time she was the last name in the hat, it only becoming apparent last Saturday when her name popped up on the returning officer’s web page.
She has the leaflets printed again and car branded once more.
In the wake of last June’s Local Elections, where she failed to win a seat in the Portlaoise Municipal District, she said in no uncertain terms that she was finished in the political space.
Briefly a councillor in Portlaoise when she was co-opted by Fianna Fáil to replace the late Jerry Lodge, she lost that seat at the 2019 Local Elections but was Sean Fleming’s running mate in the 2020 General when she got over 1,700 first preferences.
But she left the party prior to the 2024 Locals when she wasn’t chosen as a candidate in the Portlaoise area and ran as an Independent instead. In a crowded field, she fared better than she had five years previously but was never in the running as the Independent vote was largely hoovered by newcomer Tommy Mulligan.
That defeat was a tough blow, leading to those famous comments indicating it was “over and out”.
But here she is, pounding the footpaths on a Friday night, a week out from polling day.
Her branded car is parked up near the roundabout where Colliers Lane meets the Borris Road and we link up with her as she’s finishing canvassing the Hermitage estate.
Her husband Jerry, a retired teacher in Portlaoise CBS, is his good-humoured self while she’s also joined by her two sons, Frank and Paul. Her daughter Megan is now living in Berlin and so is missing this campaign.
Also by her side in high-viz bibs are Emer Liston from Stradbally, Linda Loughnane from Emo and Mairead Ryan, Peig Ryan and Grace Halpin from Portlaoise.
Colliers Lane is one of Portlaoise’s most sought-after addresses and she knocks on a succession of well-kept, spacious, one-off houses. Roughly every second door is answered and where it is, most of them know Pauline.
As well as this being her fourth election to contest in six years, she’s also a neighbour, living just down the road in the Hawthorn Drive estate. She has also been involved in an amount of local sporting and community groups.
She’s generous with her time on the door and warm and friendly with those she engages with, offering the view that “change is needed”. She acknowledges to one family that she shouldn’t have been as forthright in her views last June on her future plans. “I’ve too much fire in my belly,” she says.
As we move to her own estate, where she has lived for almost 30 years, and raised her family, she’s understandably well known at the doors.
Among those we meet is Dom Dunne, out walking his dog, who also lives in the estate. Dom was previously a Fianna Fáil colleague of Pauline’s, and both contested the last two Local Elections, albeit both falling short.
He is scathing of the current Government and wishes Pauline well in her latest bid.
We chat as we go and she says one thing that is really standing out in this election is the amount of people she comes across who say they’ll be voting Independent on this occasion.
We meet one man from Cork who has just moved into the estate. He tells of his frustration felt by his two adult sons who are struggling to get on the property ladder. He also brings up what he feels is continued wastage by the current Government.
He tells Pauline he’s well impressed with her and that he’ll vote for her, this being his first time registered to cast his vote in Laois. He then says he’s about to hit the road for Cork.
“God, it’s an awful night to be going out driving,” says Pauline. “Be careful! I don’t want anything happening to someone who says they’re going to vote for me!” Laughs all round.
And that’s a feature of this walkabout; those who engage will generally enjoy a good chuckle. “These are her two fine sons,” says one of her team as she chats to a man on one door, “and I’m her fine friend.”
Pauline accepts that she’s in an uphill battle but says she “couldn’t die wondering”.
“I see so much that needs to be changed. I do think I’m someone who can really make a difference.”
SEE ALSO – Check out more from our ‘On the Canvass’ series in this General Election
SEE ALSO – Our ten-minute podcasts with all the candidates
