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Trevor Sargent's campaign diary

"It's time. Well, it all started a couple of weeks ago with the Rock the Vote spectacular outside Leinster House. I'm more of an acoustic guitar man myself, but the electric guitars brought a smile to the photographers' faces. It was good fun, and all in a good cause.

The issue of allowing everyone the opportunity to vote at a time when they are in their own constituency is serious and will not go away for the duration of this election campaign. It was really interesting to see the massive turnout (about 85%) that was achieved in the first round of France's Presidential Election. The election was on a Sunday - Taoiseach take note.

When asked about polling on a Friday, which would be a better option than mid-week, the Taoiseach fudged the issue. Is he scared that if more people had the opportunity to vote that they might not support his Government? I think that he just might be.

I'll be pushing that issue in coming weeks. The Young Greens, headed up by Ed Davitt, tell me that they will be making some noise about it too.

I really think that there is no good excuse for not having an election on a weekend, when the maximum number of people can exercise their democratic right. Since the launch of Rock the Vote, I've been in Dún Laoghaire with Ciarán Cuffe TD.

Last week, I was in Tallaght with Elizabeth Davidson, the Green Party's candidate in Dublin South West, and I was in Dublin South Central with our candidate Cllr Tony McDermott.

We definitely need to see more of these facilities, which give people the space to do something that they enjoy. Too often, they are being squeezed out - this is forcing people to use public spaces that can endanger themselves and passing pedestrians.

The Dáil kicks off again, with some important issues coming up, including the Water Services Bill, which, if implemented earlier by the Government, would have avoided the ongoing debacle in Galway.

Lots of hard work to do between now and polling day (hopefully a Saturday)! "