He returned from London in early 2004 and in the local elections that year won a seat on Meath County Council as an independent.

He subsequently joined the Labour Party. A national breakthrough was not realised in Meath East in the recent general election, and Hannigan has had to settle for a role in the Seanad.

He was Eamon Gilmore's director of elections for the leadership election that never was, and he has spent the last two weeks driving Gilmore around the country to various party meetings as well as temporarily heading up the leader's office in Leinster House.

He will have to ensure that he does not disappear from public view in the Seanad, and may compensate with his blog postings.

But they probably reveal too much information about a politician's daily schedule, including the observation after a recent appearance on Questions and Answers:

"I did some preparations on Monday afternoon, got my hair cut and purchased a new tie."

He says: "I want to focus on commuter issues and basically to join up the dots about various policies.

"I also want to help the leadership to make sure Labour makes the breakthrough at the next election by winning up to 30 Dail seats."