A delegation from the Council for the West, led by Ms Marian Harkin, is to meet the Minister of State, Mr Joe Jacob, today to press for a timetable for the extension of the gas network to the north-west.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Sligo, Mr Sean MacManus, of Sinn Fein, has described the Government's promise last week to build a pipeline to the north-west as "vague" and said people in the region feared Fianna Fail was trying to "dupe" them.
When announcing that Bord Gais Eireann was to go ahead with a second inter-connector with Scotland, Mr Jacob said the network would be extended to the north-west. He said the Government recognised that funding would be required.
Mr Jacob said this would follow other developments including the pipeline from Mayo to Galway to take gas from the Corrib field and the planned pipeline from Dublin to Galway and Limerick.
Ms Harkin said the council would be asking why the three could not be built simultaneously. "The question is: what is the timeframe? He said it would follow, but we want to know when," she said.
Ms Harkin, who will be contesting the next election in the Sligo-Leitrim constituency as an Independent, said the North-West should be allowed access to Corrib gas at the same time as the rest of the country. "It is only a couple of miles off our coast," she said.
Because it needed to attract industry badly, it was not acceptable for the region to be "pushed to the back of the line once again".
The delegation will also raise the possibility of a gas-fired power station in the region, a link to Derry, the laying of telecommunications lines along with the gas pipeline, and the issue of EU obstacles to State subvention.
Mr MacManus meanwhile said there was "immense scepticism" and the Government should set out a clear timeframe. "There are fears that the Government is merely trying to deflect criticism of their inaction on this issue," he said.