The drizzle starts in Roscommon at about noon, but does little to dampen the purpose of Jim Gavin and a posse of supporters as they canvass up and down the town.
It is the day after the Virgin Media TV debate and the Fianna Fáil presidential election candidate cuts a more relaxed figure compared with the somewhat halting persona of the previous evening.
Main Street may be sodden, but for Gavin, it must feel like Hollywood Golf Club in Co Down compared with the Bethpage Black that was the Ballymount TV studios the previous night.
The debate arises on the canvas during those brief moments of engagement between the group whizzing in and out of shops.
In the delightfully eclectic jewellery store Time Pieces, Agnes Cunniffe and Máire Fox greet Gavin from behind the counter. He tells them he had never done anything like the debate before in his life.
“They threw me into the deep end,” he says as he
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