Rainbow warriors' first campaign move is a stroll

DUBLIN can be heaven, with a Dail dissolution around eleven and a stroll in Stephen's Green. But even on a sunny morning like yesterday's, strolling in Dublin has its pitfalls.

The three Coalition leaders and their entourage were not even out the gate of Leinster House when they ran into the first obstacle of the election campaign. "Bollards Bollards!" said somebody, drawing attention not to the performance of the outgoing Government but to the traffic control devices at the Dail.

Surrounded by handlers, wellwishers and the media, even slow moving statesmen can be led into traps and in terms of hidden dangers, the short stroll up Kildare Street was a metaphor for the perils of the forthcoming election campaign.

There was the scaffolding on the National Museum, there were more bollards on the footpath, and, of course, there was the traffic. However, the leaders' path had been smoothed by the earlier exodus of party TDs and Ministers and the entourage reached the top of Kildare Street in good shape.

There, they turned the corner the way economies used to do around election time and, ignoring the delights of Stephen's Green, entered the Shelbourne Hotel in triumph.

They had separate scripts for the launch of their joint campaign but the Three Tenors of the 27th Dail were singing from the same hymnsheet. They dwelt on the booming economy and the war against crime, and the popular favourites Sheep may safely graze, then Nearer EMU to The and, of course, We Three Kings poured forth with gusto.

The 21 Goals for the 21st Century" were solemnly unveiled and we, the people, were assured we deserve no less".

And yet the poster behind the leaders seemed to say more than all the words. It featured, on the right, a businesslike John Bruton, hands holding a pen like a bank manager. On the left, a confident Dick Spring, hands held behind him in the manner of male members of British royalty. And, in the middle, a defensive Proinsias De Rossa, hands clasped in front in the style favoured by football players facing a free kick.

Nevertheless, it was Mr De Rossa who was the most combative of the leaders, warning repeatedly of the dangers of a "PD driven" government and condemning what he saw as their belief in competitive individualism at the expense of society's most vulnerable members".

The audience of TDs now some of society's most vulnerable members - listened politely. Then they filed out of the Shelbourne to face three weeks of competitive individualism from which many will not return.

In fact, they were told to get out and give up their seats - the hardest thing a politician can do - for the subsequent press conference.

Nowhere in the coalition's 21 promises was there anything about getting Proinsias De Rossa a new tie. He was wearing the same one yesterday that sustained him through his marathon libel case against the Sunday Independent and it even features in the election poster of the three leaders.

If the new prosperity is going to be shared fairly, as the coalition promises, they should start with a new tie for Mr De Rossa. He deserves nothing less.