A proliferation of single issue candidates in western constituencies looks increasingly likely following moves by rural water campaigners and television deflector groups to intensify their campaigns.
The National Federation of Group Water Schemes is conducting private polls in six constituencies this week to measure potential support for water candidates. The constituencies are Galway East and West, Mayo, Cavan Monaghan, Laois Offaly and Clare.
The federation's chairman, Mr Bernard Keeley, told a press conference in Galway yesterday that a decision on whether to run candidates would be taken after the polls had been analysed. Individual county federations would decide for themselves whether to run candidates in their areas.
He set the middle of April as a deadline for a decision by the Government on funding group water schemes and criticised the Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, for failing to meet the federation.
"We believe he should have taken the opportunity to outline his policy on the group schemes, or even to declare his support for his Minister, and the way his Minister is presently handling the situation", Mr Keeley said.
"Fine Gael don't have a policy on group schemes. If this Government is going to present itself as a three party Government for reelection, then this Government must produce a policy on group water schemes.
"In the same way, we have been hounding and harassing Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats to come along and spell out the nitty gritty of their policies. Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats are comfortable in that they have made announcements, but we feel the time has come to spell out the nitty gritty details of those policies."
In Donegal, meanwhile, more than 50 television deflector groups plan to switch off their equipment at midnight tonight in a repeat of a similar move in Mayo on Sunday.
The action will place intense pressure on politicians in Donegal, as several thousand viewers will lose their RTE signals in addition to the BBC and ITV signals normally rebroadcast by deflector groups, leaving them with blank screens.
This is because RTE's penetration of the mountainous county has remained incomplete since the national transmission network was set up in the 1960s. With the national broadcaster apparently content until now to allow the deflector groups to transmit RTE to small pockets of viewers not covered by conventional systems, the impact of a deflector shutdown in Donegal is likely to be particularly acute.
A well attended meeting of deflector groups in Donegal on Sunday selected the chairman of Glenties Community Council, Mr Thomas Gildea, to stand on the deflector ticket in Donegal SouthWest in the forthcoming election.
According to the chairman of Donegal Community Television Support Group, Mr John McLoone, the campaign will target the seat vacated by Mr Pat "The Cope" Gallagher, a Fianna Fail TD who is not seeking reelection. The lack of a strong replacement candidate leaves the party with an uphill struggle to retain the seat.
"We're going all out to take a seat. For too long we have been forgotten and ignored, and now it's time for people in Mayo and Donegal to stand up for themselves", Mr McLoone said. "We're long enough listening to Dail questions and all the rest of it. We want action."
Mr McLoone emphasised that party loyalties in the staunchly vonservative constituency had weakened in recent years. "In the past, we had very strong party affiliations, and it was difficult to break through. But I think there is a change. At last people are putting an issue that affects them before party politics."