Labour Party compete for diaspora vote.

Election posters of Micheal D. Higgins, Labour Party candidate for Galway West, have been spotted in the town of Quimper in Brittany, France.

It is not know if TD Higgins is a visitor to the town, but he may be trying to boost the prospects of his fellow Labour Party candidates in Fianna Fail stronghold Limerick, as Quimper is twinned with the Irish city. Michael D. Higgins was also born in Limerick.

A spokesman from the office of TD Higgins was not able to shed much light on the mysterious appearance of the poster. An Irish woman living in the town sent a picture of the poster to the Labour Party. It had been placed on a bus shelter in a main street on Tuesday morning.

One famous Quimperois was Max Jacob, the writer, poet, painter and critic, who died in 1944. Jacob once shared an apartment with Pablo Picasso, who was a pacifist as well as a painter. These links may well explain the support of TD Higgins by the French town, as he is well known for his appreciation of the arts as well as his opposition to violence.

In a press statement entitled “Michael Oui Higgins”, a Labour Party spokesperson said: “We knew that Michael D's appeal was widespread, but even we were surprised to see that he has supporters that far away from the Galway city end of his constituency!”.