In Newbridge, the locals have a name for Liffey Hall, one of the newer housing estates on the outskirts of the Co Kildare town.
"They call it 'Little Dublin'," whispers a canvasser with Fianna Fáil's Cllr Fiona O'Loughlin, who is campaigning in the estate on Wednesday evening.
It's easy to see why. Although we are more than 30 miles from Dublin, virtually every car parked in the pristine driveways of the large red-brick houses has a Dublin registration. There are other tell-tale signs in the prosperous estate: children wearing Dublin GAA jerseys, and stickers on cars for Bohemians.
Enclaves such as Liffey Hall are posing a major challenge for many candidates in the local elections in towns as far away as 60 miles from Dublin. With thousands of new residents, all having arrived since 1999, these estates could be a hugely influential vote in many local authority races outside Dublin. In towns such as Newbridge, Ashbourne and Wicklow, as much as 30 per cent of the electorate is made up of relatively new arrivals.
With a limited knowledge of their local areas and of the candidates running, these communities are also the great unknown, and can prove extremely difficult for a candidate to canvass.
"Liffey Hall just didn't exist five years ago," explains Cllr O'Loughlin, a teacher by profession, who was born and reared in Rathangan, 10 miles from Newbridge. "Most of the residents are from Dublin, usually from the south and west of the city."
It's just after 8 p.m., and more than half of the houses she and her canvassing team call to are empty, their residents yet to return from work. "This is actually a good rate," she says. "There are a lot of young families in this estate, so at least one parent tends to be at home by this stage." Those who are in raise common issues with the councillor - school places and traffic management.
Cllr O'Loughlin explains the council has rezoned two new sites for schools, a measure many had not heard about. "It's up to central Government to provide the funds for them, but we will be lobbying our TDs hard to get this," she says.
Many of the younger residents tend to be disengaged from the campaign. Leaving home early and returning late, they have little time to get to know their neighbours, let alone the local representatives.
"You used to know every family you'd canvass, and you'd get a good idea of what way they'd vote," recalls one of Fianna Fáil's Newbridge canvassers. "You can't tell now. They're polite, they'll take the literature, and say they'll study it."
Wicklow's mayor, Labour candidate Mr John O'Brien, says there's "at least a quota" from the influx of new residents into the town in the last five years. "The big test is whether they come out to vote ," he says.
He also suspects many have failed to move their vote from previous Dublin addresses. "I was canvassing the other evening, and one woman joked she might be able to help me if I was running in Sandymount."
Sitting outside Donnelli's food emporium in Newbridge's newly refurbished market square, the mayor outlines the development plan for the town, which has been transforming itself into a major commuter centre.
"The town now has 11,000 of a population, and that's going to rise to 25,000 by 2016," he says.
Some of the new estates in the Marlton area of the town occupy fields he used to play in. "It wasn't 'to school through the fields', but my grandmother lived in one of the cottages on that road, and that was seen as being in the country when we visited."
He acknowledges that many of the new residents have had little time to become embedded into the community unless their children are at school.
"I'm hoping they will come out. You do have to explain who you are, and you have to be careful at what time you call canvassing, so as not to disturb them during their dinner or putting children to bed. We've found it best to canvass these areas during the weekends when they have more time."
Anton Ó Lochraigh, a Green Party candidate for Meath County Councill, says the towns of Ashbourne, Ratoath and Dunshaughlin have experienced massive population growth. "By and large people moved here for a quality of life. Unfortunately houses were built with a lack of basic infrastructure in place and they find themselves in traffic jams because of poor public transport."
Michael O'Dowd, a Fine Gael councillor in Drogheda and brother of TD Fergus O'Dowd, says there has been "a huge welcome for the new influx" from the established community there. Many of the new arrivals are from the northern fringes of Dublin city, attracted by cheaper homes and the promise of a better quality of life.
Few have even heard of, let alone studied, the major new development plan for the town and its environs, he says. "Everybody has limited knowledge of it, and this is where I would be critical of Drogheda Town Council and Louth County Council. There's only one copy of the plan on public display."
In Celbridge, North Kildare, the population has grown by 30 per cent since the late 1990s, according to Cllr John Lyons, a Progressive Democrats candidate for Kildare County Council. While there are many living a dormitory-style lifestyle, many new arrivals are working at the nearby large computer plants of Intel and Hewlett-Packard.
"There's a good sense of community here, a strong sense of a town, and a good cross section of society."
The rapid expansion has caused its problems, however, especially in terms of school places. "The school-going population is between 4,000 and 4,500, and there's a need for extra schools in the area."
Back in Liffey Hall in Newbridge, new resident 'Anne', is also raising the quality of schools with Fiona O'Loughlin.
Brought up in Tallaght, she moved with her husband and two sons to Newbridge four years ago and is delighted she did so. "We love it here," she says.
The move has caused an altogher unforseen problem however. "The older lad supports Dublin, but the younger fella shouts for Kildare, or the 'Lillywipes' as he used to call them."