Gilmore marks the cards of an unlikely gambler

By DAVID BURKE AN UNLIKELY GAMBLER had her betting slip marked by Labour Leader Eamon Gilmore when he did a walkabout in Tuam on Friday.[private] Retired nurse Naomi O'Connor took a punt on him with Celtic Bookmakers a couple of months ago and got odds of four to one on his being the next Taoiseach. With the Celtic office on the Square now closed, it was not possible to know by how much the odds had shortened, but in the bright winter sunshine Mr Gilmore looked like a man in a hurry to the top. Flanked by the local candidates, Cllr Colm Keaveney and Lorraine Higgins, he swept through the Square and up Bishop Street, shaking hands right, left and centre (and that's nothing to do with their politics) before a quick dart into O'Toole's Super Valu and a bit of banter with shoppers at the checkouts. He fairly sparkled with energy, and he has clearly mastered the political art of fixing whoever he is speaking to with a laser intensity before directing the beam to the next potential voter. A dash down Shop Street and into Foster Place before making his way back to the Square drew more attention, and a quick chat with a neighbour's child from Caltra. He had already pressed the flesh in Galway and was on his way to work Lorraine Higgins's home base of Athenry, but he took a few minutes in the crowded bar of the Corralea Court Hotel to expound his views on the economy to The Tuam Herald. Asked how he proposed to reduce the burden on the ordinary voter, saddled with the new universal social charge, he said it had taken a huge lump out of people's pay packets. The Labour Party had argued for a different approach to taxation, and for taking an extra few per cent on earnings over €100,000. In Government they would re-negotiate the deal with the EU/IMF. He said the reaction from voters was extremely positive. People want change because they want to move on and see a future for themselves and their kids. On East Galway he commented that Colm Keaveney was 'a fabulous member of Galway County Council' who was known throughout the constituency and they were running two candidates to maximise the vote throughout the constituency. 'We're asking people to keep the transfers tight, to vote 1 and 2, so that we win a seat. From the response we're getting we know we can win a seat.' He went on to say that all elections in the State had been battles between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, but this would be a contest between Labour and Fine Gael as to who would form the next government. Local realities in the Tuam area being what they are, it might make sense for an informal local pact between Tom McHugh and Colm Keaveney, but Cllr Keaveney was adamant that they were asking people to vote Labour. Asked if there was any possibility of an arrangement between him and Tom McHugh, Keaveney said they were seeking votes for Labour, not any other party. And then there were a few more handshakes, the Leader and his acolytes got back into their cars, and it was full steam ahead for Athenry and another round of meeting and greeting the committed and the to-be-converted. [/private]