If you've had Labour Party candidate Kamal Uddin come knocking on your door over the past few weeks you won't have been handed another leaflet to tell you about his campaign pledges, because Uddin is doing things a bit differently than other candidates.
Rather than coming armed with the usual leaflet in hand, Kamal is going around armed with a tree sapling to give to those who answer the door to him. He told the Mayo Advertiser: "I was thinking what do people do when you hand them a leaflet, they read it for a minute and then throw it out in the bin then, so I decided to give them something that they might enjoy and find useful and remember me by."
So far Uddin says he has handed out almost 2,000 trees on the doors across the county and he hopes to have reached that number by the time voting is done tomorrow night.
"It's something that the people seem to like, this is the fourth time I have run for election and the people know my face now and they say 'Hello Kamal, good to see you' and then ask for the leaflet and then when I hand them the tree they are surprised. I often get to talk to them for a few more minutes because they are so interested in the idea."
Apart from giving out trees and people talking about them, two other big issues keep coming up on the doors when he comes calling, Kamal told the Mayo Advertiser: "I like going out there and talking to the people and the first thing they always bring up is the hospitals and how we need to get them fixed as people are waiting too long in A&E and to see consultants.
"The system needs to be fixed - that is what people keep saying - not just about the hospital but also, in relation to housing. There are so many trying to get a home, but the waiting list for people on social housing is just too long; also, young people who are trying to buy ask how can they save money to buy a house when they have to pay rent and try to do everything else."
He added that people have been very welcoming to him on the doors over the past few weeks, saying: "This is my fourth election and people are very accepting of me know when I knock on the door; they go, 'Hello Kamal!' - whereas I remember in 2014 people were saying, who is this man and what is he running for; now they know me and they say, "you are one of us Kamal - he is one us now"; I hear that from the door - which is great."
