Professor David Farrell:

We are off the scale. There is an Irish national election study, which incidentally needs to be funded the next time around. There is no funding for proper analysis in this country but that is another day's work. In any event, the study asks a set of standard questions that are asked in election studies across the world. Usually, one asks a question along the lines of how often was the respondent of the survey contacted by a member of the campaign organisation or by the candidate. Usually, one gets a figure in single figures, that is, 8% or 9% or that sort of level. In Ireland, the figure is 20% or 25%. Respondents will state they were contacted more than once. I remember that having returned here after 21 years in Britain, I was here for the 2011 election and had forgotten what it was like to have candidates knocking on my door several times. One just does not get that.