THE Border has become the big issue in Mayo as an otherwise lacklustre campaign grinds to a close.
Voters are not talking about the divide between Northern Ireland and the Republic, however, but an imaginary demarcation line between north and south Mayo drawn by supporters of the Ballina-based Fine Gael candidate, Mr Ernie Caffrey.
Mr Caffrey's supporters have ignited the campaign in the constituency with full-page advertisements in the Western People, pointing out a glaring imbalance in the distribution of Government largesse in recent years.
According to the adverts, up to £100 million has been promised or spent on various projects in south Mayo, while only £5 million has been earmarked for the northern half of the county.
The southern projects include £25 million promised for Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar and £3 million for the RTC campus in the same town. Both projects arguably serve the whole county and indeed further afield, but the point has been made that the north has not fared as well as the south.
The southern half of the county has four sitting TDs, including two Ministers, while the northern half is represented by Fianna Fail's Mr Tom Moffatt.
Although Mr Caffrey has denied any direct involvement in the advertisements, the introduction of a partitionist mentality into the campaign has embarrassed his party colleagues, Messrs Higgins, Kenny and Ring.
It also has added to the already considerable uncertainty about the result. An analysis of the combined results of the 1992 vote in Mayo East and Mayo West shows that Fianna Fail won the equivalent of three quotas and Fine Gael two-and-a-half, suggesting a 3-2 breakdown of seats in Fianna Fail's favour.
But recent trends indicate traditional loyalties have weakened, in particular within the farming community. This, coupled with the unpredictable impact of geographical considerations, means that few commentators are prepared to make a confident forecast.
In Ballina, local issues have dominated the campaign. Many shops carry posters which read "Liam McHale says Vote No Ballina Sports and Leisure Centre", a reference to the county footballer's support for proper funding of the centre.
This local focus has exasperated the chief executive of Moy Valley Resources, Mr Billy Lewis. Moy Valley Resources is a community-owned self-help development company to which local businesses and private sponsors have subscribed almost £500 000. It is closely involved with most development issues in north Mayo.
He says the arguments about which part of Mayo gets the most money miss the real issue which is the region's neglect by Dublin. "Mayo has got 0.6 per cent of the national spend on primary roads. Most of that went on the Swinford by-pass, and there is no funding allocated for national primary routes," he says.
Mr Lewis says the region would be better served by a western alliance of TDs to press its case, rather than in-party and cross-party bickering.
He points out that the European Commission will shortly make a decision about the future of Ireland's Objective One status in the EU, under which it is considered a disadvantaged area and benefits from a whole range of grants.
Because of the booming economy in the east, he says, it is unlikely that Objective One status will be retained for all of the State. Western representatives should be arguing for Objective One status to be retained in the west.
"I'm mystified that no candidate on the western seaboard has taken it up and said, `Look, I know there is a Celtic Tiger, but we're still in the jungle and we've hardly seen its tail'.
"The west of Ireland, bar Galway, has not developed at the same speed as the rest of Ireland But neither has it been given the tools to do so...Objective One is a burning issue for Ireland and yet there has been no mention of it in this election."