Why IS more not being done to get all EU documentation translated into Irish, one woman asked Mr John Bruton when he campaigned in Waterford city at the weekend.
A lengthy discussion ensued, with Mr Bruton explaining that some documents were translated into Irish as a result of a protocol he had negotiated as part of the Amsterdam Treaty. We had to be realistic, he counselled.
No we didn't, the woman countered.
"Oh, but we do have to be realistic, unfortunately, in every walk in life," said Mr Bruton.
He and his entourage canvassed for three hours in shopping centres before walking about the city centre on Saturday. People raised what Mr Bruton called "the most basic issues of quality of life" - from the state of footpaths for women pushing buggies to access for pedestrians and cyclists who believed "our thoroughfares have been completely taken over by motor cars."
He added: "What I think we need to do in the remaining two weeks is to make the point to people that in some respects county councils and corporations can do more about the issues that cause stress in modern society than can the Dail or the European Parliament.
"We need to campaign on those issues of quality of life to persuade people that in voting in the council elections they're actually voting for the people who can make a difference."
He was accompanied by Mr Jim Corr, a Fine Gael candidate in Munster in the European elections, and by local election candidates.
Mr Corr, a member of Cork Corporation and Lord Mayor on two occasions, is considered an outsider in the Munster campaign. But he insists he has a realistic chance of taking a seat.
If he does, it seems likely to be at the expense of his party colleague and sitting MEP, Mr John Cushnahan. Fine Gael activists privately admit that their stated objective of two seats is unlikely to be achieved.
Mr Corr said: "A lot of people say winning two seats is not realistic. That's the objective we set out with. At this stage, I believe that I can win a seat. At the end of the day the people of Munster will decide who sits on what seats."
Mr Bruton and Mr Corr were greeted warmly by the vast majority of the people they canvassed. Most people shook hands politely and moved on, but others seized the opportunity to make a point.
The strangest question came from two young boys who approached the Fine Gael leader for his autograph, declaring that they had seen him on television. Mr Bruton duly obliged, only to be asked: "What's this you do?"
"I'm a politician," he replied.
