The Ulster Unionists and the SDLP have privately expressed relief at the British government's decision to call the local government elections on the same day as the parliamentary one. So much so that the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, recently described the dual contest as "yet another sop to David Trimble".
The truth is that it has been extremely difficult for the two centre-ground parties to get their supporters out twice as was proved in 1997 when the two elections were held three weeks apart. This resulted in a low turnout of 53.6 per cent in the local government elections and in considerable gains for both Sinn Fein and the loyalist fringe parties.
The 1997 council elections saw Sinn Fein increase its number of seats from 43 to 74, the Progressive Unionist Party, political representative of the Ulster Volunteer Force, gained its first six seats, and the Ulster Democratic Party, which is linked to the Ulster Defence Association, won four seats.
The other parties fared less well. The Ulster Unionists won 186 seats, one fewer than in 1994, the SDLP on 119, lost two councillors, and the DUP on 92, had 12 fewer than in 1994. The Alliance was the only other party to make moderate gains, increasing its seats from 37 to 41.
Along with the power struggles between unionists and nationalists in the 26 councils there are the internal unionist and nationalist battles.
From having only one councillor on Belfast City Council in 1983, Sinn Fein has made considerable inroads into SDLP territory and now holds eight seats on the city's council, the same number as the UUP. The party has also held the position of deputy mayor in the city as a result of the 1997 contest and is fielding candidates in unionist areas such as Castlereagh and Lisburn on this occasion.
As for the unionists, the UUP is as concerned about losing a significant number of councillors to the DUP as it is about losing a number of Westminster seats. More so, in fact, according to the DUP deputy leader, Mr Peter Robinson. "In my opinion, the council election will have an even more substantive effect on whether Mr Trimble can survive as UUP leader than the general [election]. If he looses 20 to 30 seats in district councils, that's 20 to 30 people with a serious grudge against him."