Almost 3,000 candidates are expected to run in the forthcoming local elections, following the close of nominations on Saturday.
Initial returns indicate there will be some 2,846 candidates fighting for the 883 local authority, borough and town council seats, to be contested on Friday, June 11th.
The poll will represent a number of firsts in local election history, including the abolition of the dual mandate, preventing current members of the Oireachtas from serving on local authorities. This decision could yet prove the wild card of the elections given that following the 1992 general election there were 102 TDs and some 25 senators - a record high, according to the General Council of County Councils - who were then practising the dual mandate.
These elections also see the abolition of the term "alderman", which was generally but not always used to describe the candidate who achieved the highest number of votes in a ward.
In addition, candidates no longer have to supply a financial "deposit" which in the past could have been forfeited if the candidate failed to reach a minimum number of votes. Fianna Fáil, the largest party, will field some 950 candidates for the local elections, including an estimated 576 for the main local authority elections, with others standing in the town council and borough elections.
Fine Gael is fielding 754 candidates, including 488 in the city and county council and borough elections, and 266 in the town or urban councils.
A total of 310 candidates will contest the elections for Labour. The party has 221 candidates in the city and county council polls and 144 in the town and borough council elections.
The Green Party is fielding 159 candidates, the largest number it has put forward in an election, representing 60 per cent of all constituencies. The candidates will contest 111 local authority seats and 37 borough and town council places.
The party's leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, said the Greens had a "strong, well-balanced team, 37 per cent of whom are women". Sixty-eight per cent of the Green's team are first-time candidates. Female participation in local politics remains low, with women occupying just 153 of the 883 council seats, or 17 per cent.
Sinn Féin is fielding 148 candidates in the city and county council elections, while the Progressive Democrats have 137 candidates, including 104 in the city/county elections and 33 in the town councils.
The figures for the smaller parties and Independents show some 333 candidates running in the local authority elections.
However, figures are not available for their representation in the borough and town council polls.
Dublin City Council has the largest number of small party and Independent candidates running for it - 29 - while Fingal and Donegal county councils both have 17, the second-largest number. In Fingal this includes seven Socialist Party candidates, all hoping to benefit from the bin charge controversy.
Galway County Council is third, with 16 small party or Independent candidates, while Kildare has 14.
Of the 102 TDs and 23 senators who occupied council seats, just 23 TDs and eight senators held on to their seats until the election was called, according to the General Council of County Councils.
Fianna Fáil was the biggest winner in the 1999 local elections, with the party increasing its share of the 883 county and city seats State-wide from 357 to 383. The increase of just 3 per cent nevertheless left Fianna Fáil in outright control of eight of the 34 councils, and sharing control of a further 12, which left it effectively controlling more than half of the 34 city and county councils.
According to the book From Ballot Box to Council Chamber, by the director of the General Council of County Councils, Mr Liam Kenny, the conclusions of the 1999 local elections were: Fianna Fáil 383 seats; Fine Gael 278; Labour 80; Progressive Democrats 23; Greens 7; Workers' Party 3; Socialist Party 2; Sinn Féin 23; the South Kerry Independent Alliance 1; and non-party candidates 83.