At least one candidate in the Tipperary South by-election will be happy after next week's event, whatever the result.
Ms Mary Heney of the Christian Solidarity Party is working "for the man above" and is prepared to accept what he decrees. "If he wants me to make a certain number of people aware of the issues I'm raising, that's fine, and if he wants me to be elected and go further, that's fine as well."
Canvassing in her home town of Cashel yesterday, Ms Heney told voters she was standing as an anti-abortion candidate and wanted to be "a voice for the unborn".
"If the rights of the unborn aren't fought for, it will permeate right through society. We don't care then about women and children, we don't care about the handicapped and we don't care about the aged," she says.
The first-time candidate, who is married with four sons and a daughter, describes herself as "pro-family, anti-divorce, anti-cohabitation and anti-abortion". The family, she believes, is "the cornerstone of society" and politicians "should be looking after women and children in the home."
"Women should have a choice. It's grand if they want to go to work or have a part-time job or whatever, but a woman who has three or four children should be allowed to stay in the home and look after them."
Ms Heney received a warm reception on doorsteps yesterday, with voters promising to read her election literature before making a decision.
Another CSP activist, Ms Margaret Carey, said the reaction is much better than when she stood for the party in Tipperary North in the 1997 general election.
"It's totally different this time. People were looking at me as if I had six heads but Mary is getting respect from people and a lot of support." Another candidate using the campaign to get a message across is Mr Raymond McInerney of the Natural Law Party, which is contesting an election in Tipperary South for the first time.
Mr McInerney (28), an environmental scientist from Limerick, contested the local elections in his home city last year and secured just 42 votes.
As a TD, Mr McInerney says his priority would be to "dissolve the stress in Irish society". The Natural Law Party believes this can be achieved by group practice of transcendental meditation and yogic flying. The party also wants to see a change in the healthcare system to one that is preventive rather than treatment-oriented, the use of non-pollutant sources of energy and an all-party government.
