Election candidates in Co Longford face being ranked publicly in a "league table" by a group of business people formed to lobby politicians on specific local issues.
The County Longford Action Group, which includes 100 of the town's businesses, said it will be putting heavy pressure on politicians, especially the Government candidates, in the run-up to the general election.
A list of 10 areas the group considered vital for the county's development was drawn up and was put to election candidates, said Mr Peter Connolly, spokesman for the group and general manager of CPF Profiles Ltd, based in Longford.
He said their responses will appear "in the form of a league table" published in a full-page advertisement taken by the group in the local press, but the group insists it will not be explicitly telling people how to vote.
The action group, said Mr Connolly, is non-political. "We're not looking for credit - once things get done. We'd give anyone the political credit," he said.
Among the 10 points that the group believes are "important and readily achievable" are proper policing, casualty facilities, third-level education, improved road and rail services, a link to the natural gas pipeline, and a reverse of the job depletion that occurred in the 1980s.
Local candidates, however, say the interests of the group coincide with their own campaign issues - and that they and other local sources welcome any group that wants to improve the county.
Fine Gael TD Mr Louis J. Belton, who is running for re-election in the Longford/Roscommon constituency, said the group's campaign issues are to be welcomed, but said some of the issues, such as lobbying for the town's inclusion on the gas pipeline, had been raised by him in the Dáil.
Mr Peter Kelly, a Fianna Fáil candidate, welcomed the group's concerns. He said "all these issues have been in the political domain before the group was set up, but they are looking for action sooner rather than later".
But Mr Connolly, for the action group, said that some of the points raised by the group have been "hijacked" by some parties. He said "the only solid progress to date has been two issues that we decided to fund ourselves".
These were, he said, the installation of CCTV in the town and the proposed development of a waterway link from the Camlin River to the Shannon.
Mr Connolly said the group will continue to lobby after the general election.
Local sources are pleased that the group is drawing attention to some of the important issues.
But they hope the group will work with existing agencies, such as the Chamber of Commerce, and local and voluntary groups to highlight their frequently overlapping concerns.
The group was formed earlier this year to "discuss informally what could be done to reverse the decline in structures and services available to companies operating in Co Longford".