The Council for the West and the United Chambers of Commerce have stepped up their campaign for improved infrastructure in the region by challenging TDs to "defy the party whip" if necessary on the issue.
Mayo Fianna Fáil senator Frank Chambers was the sole party representative in Knock airport last week at the first in a series of pre-election meetings hosted by the Council for the West, as part of the West Infrastructure Now (WIN) campaign.
Mr Chambers came under intense criticism for holding the Government line.
He acknowledged there was a need to improve infrastructure, but said great progress had been made in Co Mayo during the current Government's period of office.
By contrast, the Progressive Democrats candidate for Mayo, Mr Billy Heffron, endorsed the WIN demand and said he felt so strongly on the issue he would be prepared to defy the party whip if necessary.
A sum of €780 million in addition to National Development Plan (NDP) spending is the figure being sought by the campaign to halt the growing east-west economic divide.
Balanced regional development proposed in the NDP will only translate into reality if the necessary investment is made in roads, energy, information technology and other essential infrastructure, Bishop Christopher Jones of Elphin diocese told the meeting.
To put the figure into perspective, over €3 billion had been committed to Dublin's Metro and LUAS projects alone in the NDP, he said. Bishop Jones called for a united political campaign to secure fair treatment from the NDP, and allocation of the additional funding recommended in last year's Western Development Commission report. The Taoiseach effectively closed the door on the commission when he met representatives several months ago and refused to commit further funding.
Mr Marc MacSharry, of Sligo Chamber of Commerce, who was representing the 12-member United Chambers of Commerce, criticised the absence of elected politicians from Sligo at the WIN meeting. He said the United Chambers had been very disillusioned by the Government response to their proposals for development in the north-west region.
It was Mr MacSharry - coming from a Fianna Fáil background and related to former EU commissioner Mr Ray MacSharry - who proposed that TDs should be asked before the election if they were prepared to defy their whips, and "put the west first in the vital years ahead". The United Chambers have been considering running candidates, but the crowded field in the region, makes this unlikely now.
Several independent candidates pledged their support for WIN at the Knock meeting, including former Council for the West chairwoman Ms Marian Harkin, who is running in Sligo-Leitrim; the campaigning GP Dr Jerry Cowley; and Mr Michael Holmes, chairman of the Western Roads Action Committee, who are both running in Mayo; and Roscommon candidates, Ms Una Quinn and Mr Luke Flanagan.
A written submission to the meeting from Fine Gael's spokesman on rural development, Mr Gerry Reynolds TD, also offered support.