Sprawling estates, traffic jams, but with new cars in the driveways, Meath and Kildare North offer the two faces of the Celtic Tiger, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent
Kilcock's Scoil Choca Naofa in north Kildare received its first prefabricated building in the early 1960s. Forty years on, only the types of prefabs have changed. Currently, the school principal, Breda Fay, and her 10 full-time staff cope with 150 pupils, but more are coming as estates continue to mushroom around the town.
"The growth projections around here are huge. But we are not even on the Department of Education's list for a new building," she told The Irish Times.
Throughout the two constituencies that will hold by-elections on March 11th the complaints are the same: overcrowded classrooms, no places for some children, poor quality buildings.
In some locations, progress is being made. A new school extension has been opened in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath recently, and another will soon be open in Dunboyne, while Ratoath Community Centre should have another by 2007.
Everywhere, however, services are following the housing estates; often they are very far behind. "A post-primary school for 900 pupils needs 14 acres, and that is with two storeys," said Peter Kierans, chief executive of Meath Vocational Educational Committee.
Each year, 3,000 houses are being built in Meath, even though the county currently has to "export" much of its sewage to Co Louth and to Fingal County Council.
"Every now and again they threaten to turn off the valves. Then, councillors zone more land, believing that the Department of the Environment will eventually be forced to supply the services," said one source closely acquainted with planning in the county.
In some cases, the planning decisions made are beyond the bizarre. In Stamullen in North Meath, housing estates have multiplied around a crossroads and Whyte's Pub, nestling in off the M1 motorway, with a shop and few services. Ten- and 12-year-olds already walk poorly-lit, poorly-finished and littered pavements on mid-term break.
In many parts of Kildare, the situation is little better. Water pressure is so bad that many homes in Kill and Caragh in Kildare, for example, are left with little more than dribbling taps on occasions.
In each constituency, the politicians seeking the public's favour echo the same promises: better roads, trains and services, and quickly.
"Ten years ago, you could get into Middle Abbey Street in Dublin in a half-an-hour. Now it can take two [ hours]. Traffic is now running on the N7 at 45,000 a day - 2011 levels," said Independent Naas councillor Mary Glennon.
In Kildare North, Fianna Fáil has a simple strategy ready to put behind its candidate, Áine Brady: the constituency needs a Government TD.
If elected, Brady, who is currently not a local representative, will be the only candidate "who can walk into Leinster House and have access to the levers of power", the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, bluntly declared at Thursday's Fianna Fáil selection convention in Maynooth.
The sister of Government Chief Whip Tom Kitt and Galway East Senator Michael Kitt, she defeated the Clane-based Cllr Michael Fitzpatrick by 33 votes to 27 votes.
Her emergence from the pack will cause interesting ripples in Kildare North, where some party supporters are still annoyed that former minister for finance Charlie McCreevy was "sent away to Europe in leghorns", to quote one local journalist.
The Brady victory, contrary to many predictions, caused McCreevy's son, also called Charlie, to blink rapidly and gulp when it was announced by Cowen shortly after 9 p.m. He had refused to accept a nomination, though few are sure whether that was because he does not ever want to run for the Dáil, or just does not want to do so now.
If the machine created by McCreevy Snr comes out and works for Brady, she could prove to be a serious contender in the March 11th battle.
Though a three-seater now, Kildare North will become a four-seater in the general election, so all of the placings in the battle ahead will be important. The Leixlip-based Independent councillor, Catherine Murphy, is deemed to be the early favourite, though it is not yet clear if her candidacy will travel well outside her home base.
"She has worked hard in Leixlip since she got on the council in 1991, and is well-known, but Naas and Leixlip are worlds apart, even though the constituency is only 12 miles long," said one local. In June 2002, she won 2,100 votes, or nearly 21 per cent, in the Leixlip ward, well ahead of Fianna Fáil's Paul Kelly, who had come close to success in the 2002 general election against Bernard Durkan.
A former member of Democratic Left, Murphy ran for Labour in the 1997 election campaign, though she quit the party when it did not honour a promise she claims it made to nominate her for the Senate election, instead favouring Joanna Tuffy in Dublin Mid-West.
The campaign of Labour's candidate, Cllr Paddy McNamara from Bodenstown, is being run by Labour TD Emmet Stagg, who will have a considerable interest in ensuring that Cllr Murphy does not win promotion to the Dáil, given that relations between the two are poor.
The performance of the Green Party's candidate, Cllr JJ Power, who won a council seat in the Naas electoral ward in 2002, could prove significant, if only in terms of transfers. In 2002, he ran in Kildare South, but has now migrated north in the hope of building on the success of Anne Kelly McCormack, who won nearly 2,000 votes for the Greens with "two posters of tomatoes and little else" in the general election, according to one Green Party TD.
Fine Gael's Darren Scully faces a tough task, given his lack of profile in the constituency - though the young Naas UDC councillor has already shown some political skill by ensuring that he got ahead of barrister, Cllr Kate Ridge, who won in the locals in Celbridge in 2002, to get the FG nomination.
In Meath, interest will focus on Fianna Fáil's performance, where the party is bidding to win four of five seats with Cllr Shane Cassells, and on Sinn Féin's Cllr Joe Reilly, given the party's recent difficulties.
Cassells replaced fellow Navan-based Cllr Tommy Reilly after the latter's purchase of land with disgraced property developer Frank Dunlop emerged into the public arena and took his candidacy with it.
The 26-year-old candidate is backed by one of the strongest Fianna Fáil organisations in the country, but, asks Fine Gael Meath TD Damien English, "Do you want to give them four out of five?" Fine Gael's Shane McEntee is working hard to improve his profile in the county's towns, though he and his supporters claim that he already has a strong rural base.
The decision to split Meath into two three-seat constituencies next time out puts pressure on Sinn Féin's Cllr Joe Reilly to win now. In 1992, Reilly won just 641 votes.
Five years later, he increased to 2,000, while in 2002 he ran FF's Johnnie Brady close for the last seat. At worst, SF will desperately want to hold onto Reilly's 2002 9.5 per cent vote. If Meath voters turn away now, it may mark a change in the party's fortunes in the Republic. If not, the other political parties will simply despair.