Sinn Féin in Dublin:The North's deputy first minister-designate Martin McGuinness has predicted Sinn Féin will be "the story of the election".
Speaking to journalists as the party's 12 Dublin candidates submitted their nomination papers, he said they were "very confident" they were going to do very well in the general election.
"We have five TDs at the moment and we're confident we're going to substantially increase that number.
"We don't predict the number of seats - that's for the electorate - but let's just put it like this. We're quietly very, very confident that Sinn Féin's again going to be the story of this election."
Party president Gerry Adams, who visited Cork yesterday, also refused to be drawn on how many seats Sinn Féin would win.
Mr Adams said that it was difficult to say whether the party would benefit from a "bounce" in the South on foot of its entering into government with the DUP in the North but the response to date was very positive in Dublin.
Questioned about Taoiseach Bertie Ahern's assertion that Fianna Fáil would not go into coalition with Sinn Féin, Mr Adams pointed out that Ian Paisley had also pledged never to go into government with Sinn Féin and he had since entered government with the party.
Mr Adams said that the question should not be whether Fianna Fáil was willing to go into government with Sinn Féin but rather what commitments Sinn Féin would require before agreeing to go into government with Fianna Fáil
Among these commitments would be an abandonment of the current Government's plan to build private hospitals in the grounds of public hospitals, a plan that would not benefit people but only wealthy private investors, he said.
And if the current nurses' dispute was still unresolved after the election, Sinn Féin would also make it a condition of government that the nurses' demands for a 35-hour week and better pay be granted immediately.
Mr Adams also signed a pledge for the South West Regional Authority, promising his party's support for Cork airport to commence its existence independent of the Dublin Airport Authority debt-free.