Politicians on both sides of the border are at loggerheads over a territorial claim from the south.
This row, however, has nothing to do with Northern politics: the border in question separates Waterford from Kilkenny, and councillors from Kilkenny are determined that it will stay exactly where it is.
Politicians in Waterford want the boundary redrawn to allow Waterford city to expand and take in part of what is now south Kilkenny. A proposal that Waterford Corporation applies to the Government for such an extension will be debated at next month's meeting of the city council.
Kilkenny County Council has got its retaliation in first, voting unanimously last month to oppose any such move.
However, the man who has tabled the Waterford City Council motion, Cllr Davy Walsh of the Workers' Party, claims the attitude of some in Kilkenny is resonant of the "not an inch" mentality which has dogged Northern politics. He says he has cross-party support for his proposal, which has been publicly backed by the local Fine Gael TD, Mr Austin Deasy.
The move to expand the city into Kilkenny follows a wrangle between Waterford Corporation and Kilkenny County Council over housing development.
An application by Waterford Corporation for permission to build 99 local authority houses in Ferrybank, an area which straddles Waterford city and Kilkenny, was turned down by Kilkenny County Council. An Bord Pleanala upheld the corporation's appeal, however, and work on the development is set to begin before the end of the year.
These won't be the first houses Waterford Corporation will own in Kilkenny. It has already built 158 on land purchased in the county 30 years ago. The problem, argues Cllr Walsh, is that when current developments are completed, the corporation will have no more room for expansion north of the Suir river, which separates Ferrybank from the rest of the city.
"Waterford is being developed in a lopsided way at the moment. It's as if Dublin was told `You can't build on the north side of the Liffey. You can only expand to the south,' " he says.
It's not good enough, he adds, for Waterford Corporation to be simply building houses in Kilkenny. "We're being asked to play a passive role when we need to actively ensure that all of the infrastructure is put in place to support such developments, and that it's done cohesively."
But couldn't the city's growth be managed in co-operation between the two authorities? Mr Walsh claims Kilkenny County Council is simply not interested in developing the area.
This is vigorously disputed by the Kilkenny councillor and TD, Mr Liam Aylward, who says there is now a high level of co-operation between the two bodies, which didn't exist in the past.
Partnership developments are the key to the future, "instead of being divisive and looking for a borough boundary extension which would offend everyone in south Kilkenny", he added.
The good relations between the two authorities had not been damaged by Kilkenny's refusal of planning permission for the 99-house Ferrybank development, he said.
Mr Walsh's motion does not specify how much expansion Waterford city requires. The intention is to seek the agreement in principle of the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Dempsey, and to proceed from there.
In effect, Kilkenny is being asked to do what Waterford County Council did in 1980, when Waterford Corporation paid it £1 million in return for a boundary extension which enabled the city to expand to five times its size. It was Cllr Walsh who proposed the motion which put that move into effect.
A key factor on that occasion is missing this time, however. Mr Aylward says boundary changes are only feasible where there is agreement between the local authorities concerned.