INSIDE POLITICS - SIMON COVENEY'S CINEMA AD

One of my leath-bhádóirí in our office in Cork rang me to tell me about this. You might be impressed by the billboards of Eugene Regan in Dun Laoghaire, or the Fianna Fail blitzkrieg of the country. But for pure production values, Simon Coveney's slick 29-second ad(being shown in cinemas in Cork) takes the political Oscar for biggest spend of money in supporting role for Dáil seat.

Of course, Simon's ad isn't really electioneering because it's asking young people to vote. But it does the man for whom many have great ambitions no harm at all. The intended subliminal message - and we're taking a wild guess here - is: please vote, and while you're at it, you may as well vote for me.