There was anger and dismay at the political parties' handling of the forthcoming abortion referendum in the regional press over the past two weeks, a view underlined by some sharply critical editorials.
In the Dáil last week, "our political leaders and representatives of our parliamentary democracy engaged in a disorderly and ill-tempered mud-slinging and name-calling exercise that brought discredit to themselves," said The Nationalist.
In an editorial headlined "Confusion and chaos", the paper said: "If you are looking for guidance and leadership from the main political parties, there's not much there . . . all people are getting are the roadside posters, half of them urging us to vote Yes and the other half No - to confuse us even further."
An editorial in The Sligo Champion said: "Government appeals for a 'calm and reasonable debate' have been unceremoniously scuppered as the main parties became involved in bitter, abusive and personal exchanges which rolled back 20 years to the moral civil war which engulfed the country in the first, bruising campaign."
The Longford News was one of the first to note last week the referendum is shaping up to be another Nice referendum for the Government, with confusion among the electorate about exactly what they are being asked to decide.
This is one reason, said The Kerryman, why the call by Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan for a televised debate with the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, on the matter "deserves more than a negative response from the Taoiseach".
"A television debate between two party leaders who are on opposite sides of the issue does not have to be about political point scoring. At this stage anything that helps people to be more informed on the issue deserves serious attention," the paper added.
The Leinster Express criticised Mr Ahern for refusing to engage publicly on the issue, continuing instead to "articulate a position by proxy".
The paper said "this miserable failure to ensure that the electorate is adequately and openly informed on even the fundamentals of the complex wording is, in essence, an insult to people and a further dumbing down of the legislative and democratic process".
The Leinster Leader was not so pessimistic, after the Referendum Commission announced it would be able to distribute information booklets on the issue to homes throughout the country before polling day on March 6th.