In a thirst for votes, supporters of Senator Derek McDowell will be handing out bottled mineral water at stations in the politician's Dublin North Central constituency.

The bottles will feature a photograph of McDowell along with details of Pat Rabbitte's five election pledges. The electoral gimmick is probably the most unusual inducement offered so far to voters in Election 2007. McDowell is hoping the adoption of the tag of bottled mineral water (bmw) leftie will raise his profile as he seeks to regain the seat he lost in 2002 after a decade as a TD for that area.

"One of the local party supporters came up with the idea when we asked him to check out pricings on branding pens and balloons, typical election stuff, " McDowell said last night. "We thought that by giving out the water we would make an impact and that the electorate would actually consume it. That's not always the case with election material."

The competitive Dublin North Central constituency was reduced from four to three seats in the latest boundary revision. Four outgoing TDs and the Labour senator are among the collection of candidates seeking success in the forthcoming Dail contest. McDowell and Rabbitte will be meeting voters in Dublin North Central next Thursday, with earlymorning Dart travellers at stations like Killester and Clontarf being presented with the 330ml bottles of mineral water.

"We frequently campaign outside the local Dart stations. This is a way of conveying a political message in a format that fits into people's hectic schedules, " McDowell said.