Fine Gael's Maireád McGuinness is putting her money where her megaphone is and will place a bet on herself to win a seat in the European elections at Ivan Yates's Celtic Bookmakers in Wicklow today.
However, the former minister for agriculture, bookmaker and Fine Gael luminary isn't letting his party colours distort his political punditry.
He's quoting shorter odds of 1/3 for Labour's Peter Cassells to take the last seat ahead of 9/4 for Maireád McGuinness.
"The great clarity about bookmaking is that it's about money," said Mr Yates. "It's about hard cash and getting your opinion right . . . She has a tough battle. The odds may be against her, but I think she has a fighting chance."
Ms McGuinness, meanwhile, who says she will place a "substantial amount" on herself, is brimful of confidence and says opinion polls suggest Fine Gael will take two seats.
"This campaign was about winning two seats from day one, not simply changing the name of the Fine Gael MEP in the constituency. The strategists have been proven right," she said.
Meanwhile, some bookies seem to feel the European elections are almost over bar the betting. Paddy Power has stopped taking bets on five candidates in three constituencies, while Celtic Bookmakers has stopped taking bets on nine candidates overall, leaving just four seats up for grabs.
"We started taking bets on quite a few but we had to stop," said Declan Byrne of Paddy Power.
"Right now the big interest is in candidates for the last seats like Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald, who has moved from 5/4 to 11/10-on."
