DAN McGINN'S: ELECTION DIARY; ELECTION '07: 13 DAYS TO GO.

Byline: DAN McGINN

THE DUP has been reaching out to all kinds of new constituents in recent years on the journey back to devolution.

But even colleagues of Ian Paisley in North Antrim were taken aback when he appeared to take them on a different kind of trip on Pancake Tuesday.

The North Antrim MP was in great form, tossing pancakes in the kitchen of the Galgorm Manor Hotel for a photo opportunity in his Ballymena heartland.

However, he later shocked colleagues by opining: What Northern Ireland needs is a good dose of LSD!

His son and running mate, Ian Jnr, explained.

Dad was commenting on Gordon Brown's financial package for a future Stormont executive, he laughed. He was referring to the old pounds, shillings and pence system and their symbols, L, S and D.

POLITICIANS drumming up support in their bid for Stormont seats are beating a path to one poster manufacturer in Lambeg.

With lampposts awash with candidates posters, the printing presses of Alexander Boyd Displays are working 24-hour shifts to keep up with demand.

At up to pounds 7 apiece, it is being suggested more than 25,000 placards will be produced for aspiring MLAs.

Managing

director Stephen Boyd said it has been round-the-clock production since nominations closed.

Made out of a durable Corriboard, the posters are designed to withstand inclement weather conditions, if not the malice of thieves who have been swiping SDLP South Down candidate PJ Bradley's placards.

ULSTER Unionist Danny Kinahan is running his campaign in South Antrim with military precision.

But the 48-year-old former Army officer and art lover also has a simple strategy when it comes to wooing the voters.

Once the light begins to fade, he calls time on the canvas and takes stock of the reaction on the doorsteps. There's little point standing outside in the dark getting dog's abuse for interrupting the most important meal of the day, he revealed.

The former Blues and Royals officer, who served in Belfast during height of the Troubles before becoming an expert on Irish paintings, has recruited former Army colleagues to help chart his campaign trail around the 80,000 addresses in South Antrim.

Son of the late Stormont MP Sir Robin Kinahan, the father of four lives on the family's estate at Castle Upton at Templepatrick, Co Antrim, where he runs his Fine Art business.

He has a major Christie's Irish sale coming up in May.

But more pressing business between now and March 7 is taking up all the daylight hours and while the UUP councillor has a huge fight on his hands to win a seat, he is one candidate who would hope to prove a huge draw.

WHICH two parties were forced to pull their manifesto launches because of the BBC's broadcasting strike on Monday?

FOR those of you who think politics at Stormont is a soap opera, we learned two things on the hustings this week courtesy of seasoned Belfast political hack Eamonn Mallie.

On Tuesday, Eamonn informed Downtown Radio listeners that Tony Blair's and Bertie Ahern's deadline for devolution - March 26 - is the day when Coronation Street character Tracy Barlow's trial gets under way in the popular ITV soap.

The even more shocking revelation for many of Eamonn's journalistic colleagues is that he had finally come out as a closet Corrie fan.

VOTERS in South Belfast could be forgiven for doing a doubletake in this election. In the latest in our series of election looky-likeys we ask: is Lord Lucan standing for Stormont? Or could it be the UK Unionist candidate David Hoey?

CAPTION(S):

POLLS APART: Lord Lucan and UK Unionist hopeful David Hoey; SIGNS: Printers yesterday