Fine Gael Euro candidate reminisces on Cliff Walk as he hits campaign trail in Wicklow

Although hailing from Cork, Mr Mullins, a former CEO of Bord Gáis who now leads an international renewable energy company, and as the canvassing politician was keen to impress locals with his knowledge of their struggles and grievances, from the pain felt by beleaguered businesses struggling with the recent VAT hikes, commuters struggling with the erratic trains and buses, and, one of the biggest struggles of them all, the struggle of the locals and visitors who have been unable to walk the Cliff Walk for two years.

"I get a sense that there are struggles,” Mr Mullins said, corroborating his local credentials by revealing, “I am a Cork man, but I lived for about 18 years up the road in Stepaside. So I would have been down in Greystones quite often and in Bray as well. And I would have gone on that walk with my kids when they were younger.

“So I'm very familiar with the fabulous amenity that it is. I would only hope that it's going to reopen soon because I used it for many, many years with my kids. And it was a fantastic amenity,” he said.

Praising the community spirit that thrives in “Greystones and Bray and all of the towns here in Wicklow”, he said “I get a sense that there are struggles, but, when you look at the vibrancy of the community, you know, they stick together."

On the public transport gripes, Mr Mullins said that “everybody wants more frequency – and I'm hearing that right across the country”, but added that “to be fair, TFI [Transport for Ireland] is doing a very good job in preparing the way for that”.

Which is fair enough, as news finally broke this week that the long-awaited local bus routes, the L1, L2 and L3 Bus Connects routes for Greystones and Bray, will be rolled out in the autumn.

Given this is the Taoiseach’s heartland, it was as good a place as any for Mr Mullins to hit the campaign trail, flanked by local election candidate Louise Gaskin and Minister Donohoe, who had praises of his own for the town when he said: “On glorious mornings like this, if I can't be in Phibsborough, I prefer to be with great candidates in beautiful spots and we've done both by being here with my two friends in glorious Greystones.”

With his “34 years in business”, Mr Mullins explained that he has been talking to “a lot of businesses, both here in Greystones and Bray, right down the south coast” and, having just enjoyed some refreshments at a local diner, acknowledged there are “immense challenges for smaller businesses, particularly restaurants, pubs and cafes”.

After Seattle, it's probably fair to say Greystones, with Bray coming in a close second, has more cafes that any other town in the western world, but – to use that phrase once more – many are struggling, particularly with the VAT rate returning to 13.5 pc in September last year, after a long period when the hospitality sector enjoyed a rate of just 9pc.

“One concern that often arises surrounds small and medium businesses that are largely treated the same as larger companies and chains in regard to VAT treatment,” he said. “I believe that a lower VAT rate for food service businesses such as pubs, cafes and restaurants should be immediately implemented which would help them to keep their doors open.

"We certainly have to move on the VAT rate,” he continued, “back from 13.5pc to 9pc for the smaller businesses that are out there. Because many of them, by the way, are barely getting breakeven. And the footfall and the increase in ingredient prices, labour and also energy have had a massive impact on these businesses. So certainly we need to make a change in that regard and I hope that Minister Donohoe and the Government will take that on board.”