Council area profile/Mayo: If Enda Kenny plans to lead his party into the next general election, let alone lead it in a successful general election campaign, he must perform well in his home county.
Wresting Mayo County Council from Fianna Fáil control will not be easy, however, despite the Government's dip in popularity.
A chief weapon in Fine Gael's armoury is Paddy McGuinness, a businessman and personal friend of Kenny's who led a successful campaign during the 1990s to secure a third-level college for Castlebar.
Although he has never been a member of the Oireachtas, McGuinness has an impressive political background. As an RTC Action Group candidate in 1994, he was unlucky not to capture a Dáil seat. On that occasion, he garnered more than 6,000 first preference votes in the by-election caused by the departure of Pádraig Flynn, then a Cabinet Minister, to Brussels as an EU commissioner.
McGuinness wasn't elected but his strong performance scuppered Beverly Flynn's hopes of taking her father's place in Dáil Éireann.
Fine Gael's Michael Ring benefited most from the McGuinness transfers, and Ms Flynn had to wait until the general election of 1997 before becoming a TD.
It was Kenny who encouraged McGuinness to come out of political hibernation after the pair took part in a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania last September.
Few doubt he will take a seat in Castlebar but it could be at the expense of the party leader's brother, Henry.
Fine Gael is banking on Labour dropping its only seat on the council in Castlebar. But Johnny Mee may yet hold off the challenge of Michael Kilcoyne, a trade union official and chairman of the Consumers' Association of Ireland who split from Labour some months ago to run as an Independent.
If either Mee or Kilcoyne scrape through, it will more than likely leave Fine Gael with a seat less than Fianna Fáil in Castlebar - a prospect the party is not relishing.
Expected to win through for Fianna Fáil are Seán Bourke (outgoing), Al McDonnell (outgoing) and Iarla Duffy.
A lot of interest will focus on the Westport area, where Fianna Fáil holds three out of four seats. Fine Gael's Michael Ring TD won't be standing due to the ban on the dual mandate. Despite topping the poll in 1999, he didn't succeed in bringing home his running-mate - a failure attributed by Fine Gael to a mismanagement of transfers.
The party is hoping to return two seats this time. However, Fianna Fáil believe part of Ring's vote never belonged to Fine Gael in the first place.
A wild-card in the field is Christy Loftus, a journalist with the Western People, a high-profile trade unionist and a former chairman of the Mayo GAA board.
The Independent candidate had his campaign boosted in recent days by the endorsement of Independent TD Dr Jerry Cowley. His main target is Fianna Fáil's former Senator Frank Chambers, the last Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council.
Margaret Adams (FF) is predicted to top the poll but there may only be two seats for Fianna Fáil this time around, with Chambers facing a struggle for the second seat against sitting councillor Peter Sweeney.
Swinford also promises a lively contest with Sinn Féin's sole member on the council, Gerry Murray - a defector from Fianna Fáil some years ago - hoping to retain his seat. Jimmy Maloney (FF), a strong supporter of Ms Flynn, is also expected to take a seat, while Fine Gael hope to make a breakthrough with Eugene Lavin, a former inter-county goalkeeper, campaigning under the slogan "a safe pair of hands".
Lavin may only succeed in dislodging one of his own party councillors, however, leaving Swinford with a change in personnel but no change in the parties' standing.
The Progressive Democrats are hoping to make a gain though Greg Jackson in Ballina, while Independent councillor Richard Finn is expected to hold his seat in Claremorris. In the same ward, Fianna Fáil's Michael Carty is odds-on favourite to win the seat vacated by his brother, John.
The fact that civil service jobs are promised for Knock Airport and Claremorris as part of decentralisation proposals is being seen as a boost to Carty's campaign.
Fianna Fáil has 22 candidates in Mayo, one less than Fine Gael, which in turn is running more than three times as many as Labour, Sinn Féin, the Green Party and the PDs together.
Despite the numerical advantage, Fine Gael is realistic about its prospects. If the party gained two seats it would be viewed as a success, despite the fact that it would leave the party searching for support from Independents or Sinn Féin in order to control the council.
