On the doorstep of a house in the neatly maintained housing estate of Cherrywood Drive, Clondalkin, Dublin, Fianna Fáil's Trevor Gilligan (21) is trying to convince Vincent, a middle-aged father with folded arms, that he has something new to offer politics.
"Look", says Mr Gilligan earnestly. "I don't own a car, I don't own a house. The issues affecting your children affect me too. If I get in, then you can roar down the phone to me about all that stuff." Vincent looks on impassively as his children peer out from the porch, but he agrees to "consider" Mr Gilligan on polling day at least.
It's a scene being repeated on doorsteps around the country.
Young candidates are valiantly trying to convince sceptical voters that they really are different to the previous generation.
The axing of the dual mandate and recent electoral successes involving young people means more fresh faces are peering out from election posters than ever before.
Fianna Fáil has 65 candidates under the age of 30 running in the local elections and says it is one of the largest ever groups of young candidates the party has put forward.
Given the success of Fine Gael's young general election candidates in 2002, notwithstanding its disastrous overall performance, the party is also keen to talk up the prospects of its 72 young foot soldiers this time around.
The other parties, too, claim a healthy crop of young talent, although officials in the Labour Party privately concede they don't have as many fledgling candidates as they would like. Sinn Féin did not respond to media queries on the number of young candidates it is standing.
Mr Gilligan, who doesn't have a family background in politics, says he joined Fianna Fáil because he wanted to be involved in the community.
"I'm going to be living here and there are things I'd like to see done. I'm a busy person, I like doing things. I'm not interested in going home, sitting down and watching Coronation Street," says Mr Gilligan, who exudes a nervous energy as he darts from house to house on the campaign trail.
While there is much party political rhetoric of standing more young candidates than ever before, statistics show a gaping chasm in voter participation levels between young and older people. And the gap is growing.
The latest official survey by the Central Statistics Office before the 2002 general election found just 40 per cent of young adults aged 18 to 19 planned to vote. This compared to overall voter participation rates of 75.5 per cent.
Studies by groups such as the National Youth Council of Ireland show practical issues, such as not being registered to vote, were the chief reasons why young people did not vote rather than cynicism or disillusionment. It is estimated, for example, that as many as 100,000 young people will not be on the electoral register once voting day comes.
"It probably suits the Government to keep it that way," says Philip Jones (20), the Green Party's youngest candidate, standing for election on Cork's northside.
"The majority of councillors here are in their fifties and sixties and they're not in touch with young people, which is dangerous because the electoral register could drop even further."
Surrounded by her election posters outside Limerick's Parkway shopping centre, Ashling Golden, a 19-year-old Socialist Party candidate, says young people are interested in a different kind of politics.
"They're sick of tribunals and corruption," says Dublin-born Ms Golden, who is campaigning in a largely working-class electoral area which includes areas such as South Hill and Ballysimon.
"But there is a thirst for new ideas, whether it's in the anti-war movement or anti-capitalist protests. We need to engage people. It's not going to be easy to get people interested in politics, it will take time," she says in determined tones.
At the other end of the political spectrum, Sirena Campbell (26), the Progressive Democrats' youngest representative, who is standing in the Slane electoral ward of Co Meath, says there is still a feeling that politicians can make a difference.
"My father, who is quite politically-orientated, said to me once that if you want to bring about change, you have to be in the system," says Ms Campbell, a social worker based in Trinity House, a residential unit for young offenders.
Despite the widely-held perception of the PDs as being more interested in wealth-creation than social affairs, she says she doesn't see it like that.
"There may be a slight void in that regard, but you need to create a balance ... I'm studying equality studies at UCD at the moment, so where better to implement this than being within a party," Ms Campbell says.
While political parties are making efforts to stand younger candidates, it is questionable whether these candidates are genuinely representative of younger people.
For any ambitious candidate joining a mainstream party, there is a very real possibility of being transformed from an idealistic young radical into a conformist party stooge.
Fine Gael's youth officer, Susie O'Connor, insists that new candidates are encouraged to voice their own ideas without fear of recrimination through youth wing structures, which offer a different platform to the official party.
Despite the idealism of younger candidates, there is the inevitable crushing reality of the limited power available to councillors.
Kieran Walsh (22), Labour's youngest councillor, knows all about it. He was co-opted on to Limerick City Council a year ago, taking over a seat vacated by Deputy Jan O'Sullivan following the axing of the dual mandate.
"I know the wheels of local government move very, very slowly," says Mr Walsh, in the sitting room of his rented house in suburb of Corbally.
"But you try to be effective, whether it's locating speed-ramps, lobbying for grass-cutting, dealing with environmental issues, ordinary things like that," he says.
"There is a person aged 72 on the council and I'm 22. We are entitled to have our say just as much as they are."