"You should have seen the size of the beamer Parlon was driving. It's bigger than Bertie's, " said one source. "It looked like he was the one who was the real winner in the election."

In many respects, Parlon was, despite the loss of his Dail seat and the absolute hiding taken by his party, the Progressive Democrats, at the polls.

His new role as directorgeneral of the Construction Industry Federation (CIF) not only entails a 69% pay rise, it also enables him to return to the arena that he is best equipped for: lobbying.

Despite the prestige and influence he obtained during his short five-year spell as a junior minister, Parlon never seemed fully comfortable in politics, particularly given his occasional volatility, which sometimes reared its head with unfortunate results.

"Everyone knows that you don't push Parlon too far, " said one associate. "I know for a fact that during the last campaign, he would tell people he was canvassing to f*** off if he felt they were being unreasonable or if they got personal."

Not surprisingly this cost him votes, as did the notorious 'Parlon Country' affair when, after the announcement of the government's decentralisation plans in 2003, he erected a massive sign in his constituency stating 'Civil Servants . . . Welcome to Parlon Country'.

Parish pump politics at its worst, the move backfired on Parlon so badly that it alienated even some of his closest friends and associates as well as damaging his position in the largely urbanite PDs.

"They saw it as an example of his county bumpkin style, " one observer explained.

It is hardly surprising, however, that Parlon occasionally cuts loose in this fashion as, according to his associates, despite his prominence, he remains a self-made Offaly pig farmer at heart.

Although the eldest of three sons in a farming family, Parlon did not inherit the family farm at Coolderry, Co Offaly, after his father died.

Instead, he became an agricultural contractor, making silage and harvesting corn for local farmers before buying 30 acres of land, where he started a pig farm.

Having inherited a keen interest in farming politics from his father Mick, Parlon resurrected the local IFA branch before becoming Offaly county chairman in his late 20s, an extraordinarily young age at which to hold that post. This propelled him into national farm politics and, by early 1982, he was handing out leaflets outside the Dail on the very evening that Garret FitzGerald's first government collapsed.

Even then, Parlon's media savvy was starting to emerge and he delayed prominent journalist Vincent Browne's entry into the Dail to introduce himself.

In later years, after Parlon finally rose to IFA president in 1997, critics would joke that "whenever Tom sees an RTE camera, he gets a horn".

They were glad of his media awareness, however, during the 'beef blockade' of January 2000, when angry farmers picketed the country's beef plants in a protest about prices. The stakes were dramatically raised when the Irish Meat Association took an injunction against the IFA along with the instigators of the protests, Parlon and IFA beef chair Raymond O'Malley.

In a master stroke, however, Parlon neutralised the injunction by resigning from the IFA along with most of its national council while farmers continued to picket as 'private individuals', not IFA members. In the end, after negotiations involving Parlon, the beef plants were forced to concede to farmers' demands.

For many, the beef blockade remains Parlon's crowning achievement, showcasing the media and negotiation skills which the CIF now hopes to use to its advantage.

"I think the beef industry realised they couldn't compete with Parlon in terms of selling the protest to the general public. In the media, the IFA won it hands down, " said one associate.

Another believes the meat processors were outwitted by Parlon's sharp negotiating skills, which were honed over 30 years ago when, as an agricultural contractor, he regularly haggled over prices with farmers.

"I know how good he is, " said one friend. "I had to pay him for cutting my silage every year and he would always outwit me. He learned very quickly that it was what you got in the final hour in talks that was the most important. He also always used to keep something in reserve, which he would pull out just before you concluded the deal."

Parlon will certainly need his wits about him to help the CIF achieve its objectives, particularly in a time of falling housing output, even though, according to associates, he will probably receive a sympathetic hearing from his erstwhile constituency rival, finance minister Brian Cowen.

"They get on quite well.

They're both Offaly men so there's a bit of a bond there and there's a great deal of mutual respect between the pair of them, " explained one associate.

That said, Parlon seems to work best in crisis management and is "never happier than when he is up to his eyes sorting an issue", something which came to the fore in his final months as PD party president, when his colleagues often turned to him for leadership.

Some observers claim that, after the first week of this year's election campaign, Parlon saved the then government by calming senior PD nerves over Bertie Ahern's finances at a meeting in the Kildare home of PD senator John Dardis.

The full details of the meeting have never emerged but it is believed Parlon fought strongly against pulling out of government, using all his skills to outmanoeuvre party leader Michael McDowell.

Promoting the interests of the Irish construction industry should be a pushover for Parlon in comparison.

CV

TOM PARLON

Age: 54 Occupation: Directorgeneral of the Construction Industry Federation Employment: 2002-2007:

minister of state at the Department of Finance;

1997-2001: IFA president;

1997-1993: IFA treasurer;

1993-1991: IFA deputy president