Jim Gavin chatted to Canadian couple Maja Crawley and Colin Landrie during a short Dart journey between Blackrock and Dalkey in South Dublin on Thursday.
The pair seemed somewhat bemused to have come upon the Fianna Fáil presidential election candidate’s large entourage during their journey.
An Irish Rail staff member kept a close eye to make sure there was no canvassing on board as this is a no-no for the transport company.
Team Gavin told him they were only on board to “get from A to B” and the candidate was on safe ground talking to the Canadian pair who do not have a vote in the election.
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Dún Laoghaire TD Cormac Devlin told the tourists that Taoiseach Micheál Martin was in Canada to meet their prime minister Mark Carney.
So did the couple from Winnipeg, Manitoba, expect to encounter a presidential election candidate on their trip to Ireland?
“I was hoping for Paul Mescal or Dermot Kennedy,” Ms Crawley said.
Mr Gavin does not have the same kind of star power as the actor or the singer-songwriter, but who does in fairness?
The former Dublin GAA manager, a newcomer to politics, does enjoy some fame due to his multiple All-Ireland winning efforts and there was the odd ‘Up the Dubs’ as he canvassed in the South Dublin suburbs. He met footballers Paul Mannion and Con O’Callaghan in Dún Laoghaire. The pair later featured in a campaign video backing him.
But what is Mr Gavin telling voters regarding his plans for the presidency?
Voters Anne O’Leary and Rimiko Ogata got the pitch in a Blackrock cafe. They got a technical explanation of the powers of the presidency, such as scrutinising Bills and appointing taoisigh and ministers after elections.
He also said the office had “the power to highlight things” like disadvantage and “those who mightn’t have a voice” and to “shine a light on people who provide services”.
This would be a “big part” of his presidency, he told them.
Ms O’Leary asked for an example and Mr Gavin mentioned the kind of places he visited while canvassing in Navan, Co Meath, the previous day including a childcare centre.
“It’s about highlighting the really good things in the country,” he said.
Speaking afterwards, Ms O’Leary and Ms Ogata said they had not been Fianna Fáil supporters in the past, but would consider voting for Mr Gavin.
Ms O’Leary said that with Mr Martin as leader she was more open to the party. Ms Ogata agreed.
Mr Gavin, of course, is the person the Taoiseach backed to be Fianna Fáil’s candidate. He held off Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher in the internal parliamentary party vote to select a candidate, but by a thinner margin than many expected.
One of Mr Kelleher’s supporters in that contest, Dublin MEP Barry Andrews, was on the canvass with Mr Gavin.
Is he ruing the fact that it is Mr Gavin rather than Mr Kelleher pounding the pavements on the campaign trail?
“It’s ancient history,” Mr Andrews said. “We had a great contest and are delighted that Jim is our candidate.
“We’re very lucky. His record of service is really unbelievable. I came across him in humanitarian work when I was in [aid agency] Goal and he was in the Air Corps.
“In the next four weeks he’ll grow as a candidate and get to know the people.”
More importantly, does he believe Mr Gavin can stay ahead of the Fine Gael candidate, Heather Humphreys, when it comes to first preference votes?
“I think so, yeah,” Mr Andrews said.
A widely held view among commentators is that whichever Coalition party candidate is ahead – Mr Gavin or Ms Humphreys – will benefit from transfers from the other, propelling them to the presidency over left-wing Independent Catherine Connolly, who is backed by Opposition parties.
Mr Andrews said “the concentration on first preference will be the main thing here” and “that’s why he’s working as hard as he is”.
“He’s an amazingly energetic candidate,” he said. “People are really responding to him well on the road.”
In Blackrock, Eugene Kenny, from “a Fianna Fáil house”, said he would vote for Mr Gavin as “he seems to be the best of the three at the moment”.
He described him as a “middle-of-the-road kind of guy” who is “able to speak pretty well”.
Another voter in the village, Jane McGauran, told Mr Gavin how Ms Connolly was particularly vocal on the horror of the war in Gaza.
Dr McGauran is a volunteer with the Children Not Numbers charity and is a member of Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine. She is in contact with families in Gaza who have “very sick children” including some with injuries from explosives.
She asked if Mr Gavin would speak out about the war and advocate for injured children to come to Ireland. He told her what was happening in Gaza was “genocide” and said he would “speak out against that”.
“The fighting needs to stop, the hostages need to be handed back by Hamas and we need to get aid into Gaza and to get those women and children and people out,” he said. “So I will champion that.”
She later said she was impressed with Mr Gavin’s answer. “I hope he follows through.”
Would she vote for him?
“I’ll read his manifesto and I’ll have a think about it. I haven’t decided,” said the doctor, who is also considering voting for Ms Connolly.
In these early days of the campaign, Dr McGauran was not alone during the canvass in being in the “thinking about it” category when it comes to Mr Gavin.
