Answer the question at the end by quoting:

Gaelic Ireland (Irish: Eire Ghaidhealach) was the Gaelic political and social order, and associated culture, that existed in Ireland from the prehistoric era until the early 17th century. Before the Norman invasion of 1169, Gaelic Ireland comprised the whole island. Thereafter, it comprised that part of the country not under foreign dominion at a given time. For most of its history, Gaelic Ireland was a "patchwork" hierarchy of territories ruled by a hierarchy of kings or chiefs, who were elected through tanistry.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the common clothing amongst the Gaelic Irish consisted of a brat (a woollen semi circular cloak) worn over a leine (a loose-fitting, long-sleeved tunic made of linen). For men the leine reached to their ankles but was hitched up by means of a crios (pronounced 'kriss') which was a type of woven belt. The leine was hitched up to knee level. (Gaelicattire.com) Women wore the leine at full length. Men sometimes wore tight-fitting trews (Gaelic triubhas) but otherwise went bare-legged. The brat was simply thrown over both shoulders or sometimes over only one. Occasionally the brat was fastened with a dealg (brooch), with men usually wearing the dealg at their shoulders and women at their chests. The ionar (a short, tight-fitting jacket) became popular later on. In Topographia Hibernica, written during the 1180s, Gerald de Barri wrote that the Irish commonly wore hoods at that time (perhaps forming part of the brat), while Edmund Spenser wrote in the 1580s that the brat was (in general) their main item of clothing. Gaelic clothing does not appear to have been influenced by outside styles.  Women invariably grew their hair long and, as in other European cultures, this custom was also common among the men. It is said that the Gaelic Irish took great pride in their long hair--for example, a person could be forced to pay the heavy fine of two cows for shaving a man's head against his will. For women, very long hair was seen as a mark of beauty. Sometimes, wealthy men and women would braid their hair and fasten hollow golden balls to the braids. Another style that was popular among some medieval Gaelic men was the glib (short all over except for a long, thick lock of hair towards the front of the head). A band or ribbon around the forehead was the typical way of holding one's hair in place. For the wealthy, this band was often a thin and flexible band of burnished gold, silver or findruine. When the Anglo-Normans and the English colonized Ireland, hair length came to signify one's allegiance. Irishmen who cut their hair short were deemed to be forsaking their Irish heritage. Likewise, English colonists who grew their hair long at the back were deemed to be giving in to the Irish life.  Gaelic men typically wore a beard and mustache, and it was often seen as dishonourable for a Gaelic man to have no facial hair. Beard styles varied - the long forked beard and the rectangular Mesopotamian-style beard were fashionable at times.

Why did they focus on hair so much?

hair length came to signify one's allegiance. Irishmen who cut their hair short were deemed to be forsaking their Irish heritage.



Answer the question at the end by quoting:

Kennedy was born in Inverness, the son of Mary and Ian. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic, and was educated at Lochaber High School in Fort William. He went on to study for a Master of Arts degree in Politics and Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. At university he became politically active, joining the SDP, as well as the Dialectic Society.
In his last general election as leader, in May 2005, he extended his strategy from the 2001 election targeting the seats held by the most senior and/or highly regarded Conservative MPs, dubbed a "decapitation" strategy. The expectation was that without these "key" figures, the Conservatives would be discredited as the official opposition allowing Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats to claim that they were the "effective opposition". At the same time they also hoped to capture marginal Labour seats attracting (particularly Muslim) Labour voters who were dissatisfied because of the invasion of Iraq which Kennedy's party had opposed. They had succeeded with this tactic in by-elections, taking Brent East and Leicester South from Labour.  Just before the election, it had been anticipated by the media and opinion polls that the Liberal Democrats could win up to 100 seats and place them close to the Conservatives in terms of seats as well as votes. They won 62 seats (22.1% of the vote), their greatest number of seats since 1923 but significantly less than most observers had expected the party to win.  They made a net loss of seats to the Conservatives, only managing to win three seats from them (Solihull, Taunton and Westmorland and Lonsdale) with their biggest "scalp" being that of the Shadow Education Secretary Tim Collins. They failed to unseat leading Conservatives such as the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Oliver Letwin, Shadow Home Secretary David Davis, Shadow Secretary of State for the Family Theresa May and the Leader of the Opposition Michael Howard. The "decapitation" strategy was widely seen to have failed.  They won significant numbers of seats from Labour, winning particularly in student areas such as Bristol, Cardiff and Manchester, but did not see the breakthrough in areas with large Asian populations that some had expected, and even lost Leicester South. They succeeded in regaining the seat of Ceredigion, their first gain from the Welsh party Plaid Cymru.  Kennedy heralded the Liberal Democrats, who now had a total of 62 seats, as the "national party of the future", but in the wake of the general election, Kennedy's leadership came under increased criticism from those who felt that the Liberal Democrats could have surged forward with the official opposition Conservative Party having been relatively weak. Many pointed the finger of blame at Kennedy for failing to widen the party's appeal. Others, like the former Deputy Chairman of the Federal Liberal Democrat Party, Donnachadh McCarthy, resigned, citing the party's shift to the right of the political spectrum under Kennedy in pursuit of Conservative votes.

Was he affiliated with democrats the whole time?
the Conservatives would be discredited as the official opposition allowing Kennedy and the Liberal Democrats to claim that they were the "effective opposition".