Less was more for veteran gangland criminal Gerry Hutch when it came to campaigning for a Dáil seat in Dublin Central.
The ongoing threat to Hutch’s life from his gangland rivals meant it was never going to be a traditional campaign. He did some public canvassing and door-knocking but it seemed mostly for appearances’ sake.
Hutch, once considered the State’s most prolific bank robber and who went on to become a key figure in the bloody Hutch-Kinahan feud that claimed the lives of 18 people, was initially given little chance by observers. But it gradually became apparent there was significant and genuine support for him on his home turf of the north inner city and, crucially, in parts of Cabra-Glasnevin.
This support was all the more surprising given it came a year and a half after the end of the Regency Hotel trial after which Hutch was acquitted of the murder of gangland rival David Byrne.
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The Hutch campaign laid out few policy commitments. There were aspirations to move the homeless into empty houses, even unfinished ones, and vague promises of securing more resources and gardaí for the inner city. But no suggestions of how this could be achieved.
Posters appeared on some lamp-posts, but they were by no means common across the constituency. His most public campaigning effort was a billboard van which drove around the city playing The Rocky Road to Dublin.
Such was the lack of effort that some wondered if he wanted to be elected at all. Perhaps it was all a ruse to stay out of jail.
Just a month ago, Hutch was sitting in Tahiche prison in Lanzarote, having been arrested in late October as part of a two-year investigation by Spain’s Guardia Civil into an alleged money-laundering scheme involving the Dublin criminal and eight associates.
His initial bail application was rejected but this was overturned by the Spanish High Court which released him on a €100,000 bond specifically to run in the Irish general election.
The truth is Hutch didn’t need to do much in-person campaigning. His posts on social media, particularly TikTok, received outsize attention from the media and general public.
Much of the social media campaigning was done by people who didn’t even know Hutch. Memes and Photoshopped images featuring the candidate, including a fake image of his election billboard outside the Regency Hotel, were shared far and wide.
[ Gerry 'The Monk' Hutch concedes to Labour's Marie SherlockOpens in new window ]
This notoriety meant he could pick and choose who he gave media interviews to. The handful of interviews he granted were remarkable easy-going affairs with few tough questions about either his criminal past or amorphous policy positions.
The only real grilling Hutch received was on Sunday when, as he arrived for the second day of the count, RTÉ's Paul Reynolds persistently questioned him about the Special Criminal Court’s opinion that he had control over the assault rifles used in the Regency attack. Hutch refused to answer.
As the count wore on, even the most veteran political commenters concluded Hutch was sure to take the fourth and final seat. In the end, they were almost right. Hutch held fourth spot until the last count when the dearth of transfers from almost every other candidate eventually caught up with him.
He was comfortably overtaken by Labour’s Marie Sherlock on the 11th count. The cheers in the count hall came from more than just the Labour supporters.
