Concern is growing from Mayo to Donegal that the entire region will be bypassed when natural gas from the Corrib field is brought ashore.
After the Taoiseach's announcement that a £100 million pipeline is to be built from Pollatomish in Co Mayo to Craughwell in Co Galway, without any firm commitment to bringing the gas northwards, campaigners are determined to make it an election issue.
The Council for the West has called an open meeting in Knock next Wednesday to establish an action committee "to co-ordinate the campaign necessary to secure the benefits of this indigenous natural resource for the region". Representatives of Bord Gais and of the Departments of Public Enterprise and of Energy are to attend.
The north-west already has a problem of electricity capacity - business leaders have warned that if a heavy industry wanted to locate in the region there would not be sufficient power. It is argued that the gas should at least be used to fuel a generating station.
The Council for the West welcomed the announcement of a £100 million joint venture between Bord Gais Eireann and the Corrib co-venturers - Enterprise Energy Ireland, Statoil Exploration Ireland and Marathon Petroleum Hibernia - to build the pipeline to the national grid. But the council said it should be ensured that this did not create a further infrastructural disadvantage for the west and north-west.
The council argues that natural gas must be available in Connacht and Donegal if these areas are to be competitive with the rest of the State.
Ms Marian Harkin, who chairs the council, has criticised the "vague generalities" in Bord Gais statements and the lack of specific plans or guidelines on how the western region will benefit.
"They are building a pipeline that will bring the gas south and east, but we want a commitment that there will be spurs to take it north and west," she said.
The second main issue to be raised at Wednesday's meeting concerns the generous terms under which licences were initially given to the exploration companies. Ms Harkin said that, given that there was now a possibility of other finds, a renegotiation of those terms had to be considered.
Calls for a review of the fiscal terms introduced in 1992 have also been made by the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME), SIPTU, and Mr Mike Cunningham, a former director of Statoil Exploration.
Mr Cunningham, who will be attending Wednesday's meeting, said that no other country in the world had given such favourable terms. In 1992 royalties were abolished and oil and gas companies were given a 100 per cent write-off against development and recovery costs. The tax rate applying to offshore activity was reduced from 35 to 25 per cent.
"Once production starts from that field, they will be able to write off all costs going back 25 years," Mr Cunningham said.
He compared this to the situation in the Faro Islands, where no company can operate without agreeing to a minimum take by the Government of 55 per cent through taxes and royalties. The companies are also required to give a commitment to develop a deep-sea port.
"And these are the exact same companies that are operating off the west coast of Ireland," he said.
"In Norway, the government got up to 79 per cent on some of the older fields, and that compares to zero per cent here. Communities along the western seaboard of Norway also benefited with infrastructure for their fishing ports and other services."
Mr Cunningham is arguing that the Government should at least apply a 2 per cent levy on production, which could be used to develop a deep-sea port and pay for training to ensure that employment is provided locally.
He also found it "most unusual" that the Taoiseach had made the announcement of the joint venture to build the pipeline before there was a declaration that the find was commercial.