AS POLITICIANS continued to fan the flames of the water charges dispute this week, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes renewed its attack on the Government's water policy.
Much of the heat has been taken, out of the issue on the ground however, with the promise of a substantial subsidy, £75 per household per annum. Mr Howlin's promise goes a long way towards meeting the original demands of the water campaigners, despite their public dissatisfaction with what is on offer.
A much bigger issue now threatens to engulf those who will soon be marching down the boreens of rural Ireland in the search for" votes.
A glance at the map shows the potential impact of the deflector issue in Mayo alone those served by them include people living in Ballina, Castlebar, Claremorris, Westport and Ballinrobe, as well as those living in the rural hinterland around these towns. Apart from Mayo, the deflector issue directly concerns tens of thousands of people living along the western seaboard, and parts of the south and south east.
Many more people are directly affected by the issue than are connected to group water schemes. As they lose British channels this week they will increase the pressure on their political representatives to come up with a solution.
Mr Tom Gildea, the chairman of Glenties Community Council, has already been selected as a deflector candidate in Donegal South West. Fianna Fail lacks a strong candidate in this constituency, following the decision by Mr Pat "the Cope" Gallagher to "remain in Europe. The deflector groups in Donegal are keen to exploit this weakness.
In Mayo, an already crowded field may soon have to contends with a TV candidate, who would almost certainly have a decisive impact on the result.
Here, six sitting TDs are chasing five seats in the redrawn constituency. In addition, Ms Beverly Cooper Flynn, an unsuccessful Fianna Fail candidate in the 1994 by election, has a high profile in the county. She will mount a strong challenge for a seat.
Galway East is one of the key constituencies targeted by both Government and Opposition in the undeclared election campaign. It has been singled out for special attention by Fine Gael, Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats because it has grown from a three seater to a four seater.
The deflector issue has been building in the constituency since February, when at least 2,000 households in the Athenry and Loughrea areas lost their British signals following a legal threat.
The equipment was switched back on following pledges by those affected that they would contribute to a fighting fund to pay the cost of legal action. But there remains considerable anger in the constituency about the issue.
Fine Gael's chance of an extra seat in Galway East will hinge on the response by the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications, Mr Dukes. So far he has been playing his cards close to his, chest, but the campaigners are confident he will soon make his move.
It will not be an easy task for Mr Dukes to come up with a solution, however. A private briefing document circulated to Fine Gael deputies illustrates some of the difficulties he faces.
It says there are other problems ahead for the deflector systems, even if the Government gives in and legalises them. As TnaG transmissions and a new English language channel are gradually "rolled out", and RTE expands and upgrades its coverage, deflector systems "will be subject to growing interference and the quality of their limited service will deteriorate," it says.
"The advent of digitalisation will initially create more problems for deflectors. Digital television will require viewers to get new TV sets or to install new convertor boxes. To ease the transition, there will be a period of simulcasting when the broadcasting channels will go out on both analogue and digital systems, thereby using up more of the frequency bands than they currently use, further restricting the space for illegal operators.