A look back at the first week of canvassing

“Simon, you are so welcome here. Can you jive?”

So asked Helen Drumm when the outgoing Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) called in to her gift shop in Monaghan looking for the most coveted gift of all in this election – votes.

“No,” a nervous and slightly giddy Simon Harris replied.

Too late.

Before he knew it, he was jiving around the shop floor with reassuring words from his dancing partner: “Ah, you’re doing well.”

What a relief for his anxious political spin doctors – they are always on edge when anything of an impromptu nature takes place, especially during a closely-contested election when any ‘mis-step’ could be costly.

All’s well that ends well. Phew!

Next up – the main opposition leader.

Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin leader, came to the same shop later that same day and quite literally followed in the taoiseach’s footsteps.

That’s the thing about politics – the opposition is always proclaiming ‘anything you can do I can do better’.

So, off McDonald goes jiving around the same shop floor.

Politicians just can’t miss an opportunity to go after the ‘swing’ vote.

But not everything in the election stayed on ground level during the first week.

The official campaign was still in ‘lift-off’ mode when none other than the Ryanair boss, Michael O’Leary, crash landed into the middle of the election.

He was invited to a Fine Gael event to endorse an outgoing minister but before the event was over, he was on the naughty step.

When the colourful airline boss was invited to say a few words, he decided to say more than many expected.

But the Fine Gael faithful did not appear to mind as they laughed their way through the next minute or so while Mr O’Leary tore into the country’s teachers.

Mr O’Leary told his uproarious audience: “The Dáil is full of teachers. Nothing wrong with teachers, I love teachers, but I wouldn’t generally employ a lot of teachers to go out and get things done.”

There wasn’t much laughter the following day when the opposition and teachers’ unions laid into the Ryanair CEO, and Fine Gael.

It all meant that a fair few people can now forget any hope they might have had of becoming the teacher’s pet during this election.

Elsewhere, pet projects were the order of the day as party after party made promise after promise to try to woo a grumpy electorate.

No wonder many people are fed up – an election during short winter days and having their doors knocked during long dark evenings.

But that’s not all – politicians up and down the country have been getting it in the neck all week about the cost of groceries, energy, and childcare.

This is also an election where immigration is among the big-ticket issues.

An influx of refugees and asylum seekers to Ireland during the term of the outgoing government has resulted in an accommodation crisis.

During the lifetime of the government there has been strong, and sometimes violent, local community opposition as government agencies attempted to place international protection applicants in various communities around the country.

Some of the opposition to the proposed emergency accommodation has been anti-immigrant, promoted by far-right activists.

However, much of it has been due to concerns about inadequate local public services and the inability of local communities to cater for sudden increases in their populations, particularly around education and medical services.

The reason for countless public protests around the country in recent years has already been made clear to government and opposition politicians during the opening week of this election campaign.

However, one refugee advocate has already noted that there has not been the same “tension” around the issue so far in the election campaign.

Then there are the daily big-picture items around issues including the ongoing housing crisis, health care waiting times, VAT rates, and wasting public money on constructing things like a bike shelter at the Dail at a cost of €336,000 (£280,242).

Like the bells on the bicycles, government politicians’ ears have been ringing in recent days with complaints and scorn about their handling of these and many other issues.

It all means the government and opposition parties will have plenty of time over the next fortnight to try to dance their way around all these issues.