WITH the serious outbreak of foot in mouth disease afflicting Fine Gael Ministers at the moment supporters of the party must be feeling fairly glum.
However, Mayo is one part of the country where this gloom is offset by the realisation, among FG people, that local boy Enda Kenny is doing pretty well from their point of view.
As Minister for Tourism and Trade he has a portfolio of key importance to voters in the new five seat constituency, which replaces the two three seaters of Mayo East and Mayo West at the next election.
Luckily for Mr Kenny his stint in tourism coincides with boom times for the sector, helped by EU funds to the tune of £356 million under the six year operational programme for tourism.
The 18 month IRA ceasefire also had a significant impact. The possibility of a return to full scale violence is the only really dark cloud on his horizon.
More than £20 million of EU money has been allocated to tourism projects in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon since Mr Kenny took office. These include a major development of the river Moy, an aqua centre in Westport and a holiday village in Castlebar.
He also designated both Achill and Westport for tax incentives under the seaside development scheme, provoking jeers from the opposition benches but much favourable comment at home.
All of this will give the Minister an excuse for a good night out next week, when friends and supporters gather to mark his 2 years as a TD with a gala ball in Castlebar.
No doubt much discussion on the night will centre on the party's prospects in next year's general election. Already there is much speculation about the effect the constituency changes will have.
Fianna Fail has also raised the political temperature in Connacht, with a series of conventions in recent weeks to select candidates.
The big question in Mayo is will Fianna Fail recapture the seat lost to Fine Gael following Padraig Flynn's departure to Brussels? Of the six sitting TDs, at least one is not going to make it into the next Dail. This number might rise to two if Mr Flynn's daughter, Beverly Cooper Flynn, finally makes it to Leinster House. Her recent co option on to Mayo County Council (following the death of Dick Morrin) was a sign that much of the internal opposition to her has subsided within Fianna Fail.
If that is the case it is hard to see all three sitting Fine Gael TDs - Enda Kenny, Jim Higgins and Michael Ring - holding on to their seats. Mr Ring is the most vulnerable.
But the Westport auctioneer is working the new constituency extremely hard. His election in the June 1994 by election sent shock waves through Fianna Fail, at a time when parachute candidates throughout the country were being given the cold shoulder by the electorate.
The voters in Mayo West then decided they didn't like the concept of a Flynn dynasty. Time will tell if they have changed their minds. One thing is sure Mayo will be one of the most marginal and unpredictable of constituencies in the next election.
Meanwhile the internal rivalry which is an enduring feature of Fianna Fail in Galway West looks set to intensify in the run up to the election.
Here, three strong candidates will be on offer Eamon O Cuiv, Maire Geoghegan Quinn and Frank Fahey. A margin of 235 votes separated Senator Fahey from MGQ when she was elected without reaching the quota on the 10th count in 1992.
It was hardly a comfortable margin for such a senior figure within the party, and contrasts with the strong showing by Dev Og". Mr O Cuiv was elected on the first count. If anything, his position looks more secure than it did then.
Mr Fahey lost a slice of his vote south of the city before the last election, and since then has moved his base into Galway. He is cultivating his vote with a single minded determination and has an outside chance of winning a seat next time.
The official line is that all three Fianna Fail candidates are working in harmony to deliver three seats for the party. It is more likely, however, that the election will result in a close three way struggle for the last seat between MGQ, Frank Fahey and one time poll topper, Bobby Molloy.
The Progressive Democrats TD saw his support base eroded at the last election, and like MGQ had to wait until the last count before being elected without reaching the quota. He is not considered to be as active in the constituency as before and may be in trouble next year.
Curiously, Michael D. Higgins may be the one to benefit if that is the case. The Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht has won new friends among Galway's merchant princes since he took office. There is a keen awareness that the city's cultural image is good for business.
Michael D. also benefits from the popular perception that his home base has done exceptionally well during his tenure. It is a perception the Minister vigorously contests at national level but with less energy at home.
Whatever the truth of the matter, every time he is attacked in the Sunday Independent for shovelling funds towards Galway it is probably worth a couple of dozen extra votes for him. In any case, some business folk in the city will hope to see him retain the cultural portfolio after the next election.
Michael D. may lose some of his left wing and environmental supporters, particularly if the Mutton Island saga drags on and becomes entangled in the election campaign, but his broader appeal to the middle classes will more than make up for any losses.
Over in East Galway, Fianna Fail is in for an interesting campaign, following a marathon selection convention which produced a surprising result.
The constituency is one of the areas targeted by party headquarters for an extra seat, and two candidates will run alongside sitting TDs Michael Kitt and Noel Treacy. It has been expanded from three seats to four, with the return of land ceded to Mayo some years ago and the addition of a strategic slice of territory around Gort.
The convention in Gort last week was a classic piece of oldstyle electioneering, with Ave Maria and other hits playing on the public address system and the wheeling and dealing continuing until almost 3 a.m. The conventional wisdom, if you'll pardon the pun, was that the two "sweepers" would come from the northern and southern ends of the constituency.
In the event, one of the nominations went to Joe Callanan in the middle of the constituency. It was an unexpected result which leaves a gap to the south and three of the candidates - Mr Callanan and the two sitting TDs - all living within 20 miles of each other near Ballinasloe.
Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats will try to capitalise on the gap come election time. But Mr Callanan bears an old Fianna Fail name which commanded loyalty in the past near Gort. He may pick up more votes in the area than people expect.