"It would be fairly pointless sending a Sinn Fein candidate up the Shankill" is how a party spokesman summed up one predictable feature of the forthcoming general election campaign in Northern Ireland.
While recent political developments mean canvassers are faced with fewer no-go areas than in times past, the next few weeks will illustrate the often unique nature of electioneering in Northern Ireland.
"We knock on doors in most areas in an effort to try and win people over. The only problem areas we have are ones such as west Belfast; we wouldn't go there, but we would send postal communication to those addresses," says Alan Ewart, chief executive of the DUP.
Public meetings and rallies are of less significance than they were in the past, he says, but the role of the media in Northern Ireland at election time cannot not be overstated.
"Most of the publications in the North put forward Trimble's line, they are very strongly pro-agreement, there isn't really an outlet on our side," he says.
Sinn Fein feels similarly disenfranchised by the North's media. "In every election, the opinion-makers are respected journalists, we feel that for 30 years there has been an anti-republican bias . . . It is a struggle for republicans to get our fair share of coverage," according to a spokesman.
Mr Tim Atwood, director of development with the SDLP, says there have been significant changes in the way elections have been fought in Northern Ireland over the last 10 years. "People who stood up for the SDLP in republican areas such as Andersonstown were taking their life in their hands. There are stories of battles between Sinn Fein and the SDLP that turned violent at times."
There are a few areas in which the SDLP would not canvass, hard-line places on either side of the political divide. The issues at the core of elections North and South are also different; bread-and-butter issues dominate elections in the Republic, here there is the battle for orange and green votes.
"Having said that, the Assembly has meant people are more aware of house prices, education, health and jobs, everyday issues . . . political representatives are viewed as being more accountable than before," Mr Atwood says.
All Northern parties say the electioneering process is becoming increasingly sophisticated. The DUP is using the Internet to get its message across while the Women's Coalition has been learning from parties in the South about more high-tech methods of analysing election results. "As the institutions have been modernised, so have the tools we are using, but pressing the flesh is still the most important part of it," says Ms Kate Fearon, political adviser to the Women's Coalition.
While the party makes a point of canvassing in all areas, the reaction to this has not always been positive. "It's all about territory," Ms Fearon says, "but we believe it is important to forge new paths."