As the thoughts of politicians throughout the State turn to the next election, those in Sligo-Leitrim ponder one question: will Marian Harkin join Fianna Fail?
Ms Harkin stood as an independent candidate in the last European election for the Connacht-Ulster constituency, surprising all observers by coming very close to being elected. She was only narrowly beaten to the last seat by Dana Rosemary Scallon.
She polled 47,300 first preferences, and ended up with about 64,000. She and her supporters acknowledge that it was in the Ulster counties and Galway, where she was very little known, that she lost on transfers.
But she is well known in Sligo-Leitrim. A native of Sligo, she worked in Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim, for 11 years, before moving back to Sligo when her husband died almost four years ago. She is a secondary school teacher, and has two sons.
It was as chairwoman of the Council for the West that she came to public prominence, campaigning for jobs and infrastructural development in this region that seemed to be in terminal decline. It is a mark of the resonance of this campaign that she came from nowhere, with a team of volunteer helpers, to poll so well in the European election.
She has already said she is likely to contest the next Dail election for the Sligo-Leitrim constituency. Asked if she would join a party to do so, she said: "It's difficult to decide. I don't even know what belonging to a political party involves. Would you be seen as an outsider? A lot of the people who worked with me in the European elections are ready to go. How would these people work within a party?"
Fine Gael has two TDs in this constituency, Gerry Reynolds from south Leitrim and John Perry from south Sligo. Both are young, elected for the first time at the last election. However, there are doubts among some observers that they will both make it again.
Fianna Fail also has two TDs, Matt Brennan from south Sligo and John Ellis from Leitrim. Matt Brennan will retire at the next election, and John Ellis is, following the revelations of his receipt of money from Charlie Haughey, again in trouble with the IFA over the money he and his family owe to farmers. How this will affect his chances in the next election is an unknown quantity.
A striking feature of the last election was the failure of any candidate from the town of Sligo, the constituency's main population centre, to be elected, when Labour's Declan Bree lost his seat.
He will certainly be seeking to rectify this next time, while Sinn Fein's Sean McManus, the town's Deputy Mayor, will be chasing much of the same vote and hoping to add to the party's representation in the Dail.
Both of the major parties therefore need a strong candidate from the town. Fine Gael is unlikely to want to upset either of its sitting TDs, though one of its women councillors is chairwoman of Sligo County Council and may want to stand.
Dr Jimmy Devins, whose family is part of the Fianna Fail tradition in the town, has said he will seek the nomination and is sure to get it. But a third especially strong, female candidate would greatly boost the party ticket.
But why would Marian Harkin join a party when she had proved how well she could do without one?
"I would only join a party if I felt I could effect change," she said. "I know a backbench TD has very little power. But to make any strategic change if you're an Independent you have to be in the right place at the right time."
Asked what issues she wanted to pursue she stressed the need for sustained pressure on developing the west. "I have found that while intellectually people will agree with you, to get investment etc, is much more difficult. Unless you pursue it, it will be put on the back burner."
At the moment the Council for the West was attempting to raise awareness about a National Spatial Strategy, which would integrate planning and development, she said, and this needed to be pursued.
She also felt the refugee issue needed to be addressed urgently. "The job of the Government is to govern, and part of that is anticipating problems. The Hierarchy's suggestion has a lot of merit. It is our responsibility to solve the problem."
There are numerous other issues preoccupying her - the development of Sligo town, the issue of mobile phone masts, the balance between urban and rural development - but the immediate issue is the platform from which she will raise them.