It is the list that nobody wants to be on. No candidate wants the electorate to believe that they have a "safe seat". They would much rather people believed they are in serious bother and need a big push during the campaign to sneak them over the line.
But the reality is that if you look through the 40 constituencies, it is possible to identify a lot of candidates that look pretty certain to feature in the 32nd Dáil. These are the "bankers".
The outgoing Ceann Comhairle Sean Barrett is the biggest banker of them all, as he will automatically be re-elected. But who can we identify as best poised to join him?
Looking at past electoral records, the most recent Dáil and local elections and also opinion polls from the last few years, it's possible to identify over 70 of the candidates who look set to take a good portion of the 158 seats - although this could change come count-weekend.
There are some anomalies such as the two Meath constituencies, which could both return two Fine Gael TDs each on a good day.
But in choosing bankers it’s more difficult to pick which of the two incumbents (Regina Doherty and Helen McEntee in Meath East & Damien English and Ray Butler in Meath West) are best poised to retain their seats.
A similar situation pertains in Louth for Fine Gael incumbents Fergus O'Dowd and Peter Fitzpatrick.
Election counts also throw up quirks that nobody can foresee. Remember Dublin Central in 2007?
Fine Gael’s Paschal Donohoe and Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald both polled roughly 3.5 times the 939 first-preference votes Fianna Fáil's Cyprian Brady won - yet Brady was elected on the eighth count in a phenomenal turnaround. So expect more unexpected developments this time around.
But, all that aside, here are the candidates who, at this juncture, look like bankers…
Carlow-Kilkenny
John McGuinness (FF)
Pat Deering (FG)
John Paul Phelan (FG)
Cavan-Monaghan
Heather Humphreys (FG)
Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (SF)
Brendan Smith (FF)
Clare
Timmy Dooley (FF)
Pat Breen (FG)
Joe Carey (FG)
Cork East
David Stanton (FG)
Cork North-Central
Jonathan O’Brien (SF)
Billy Kelleher (FF)
Dara Murphy (FG)
Cork North-West
Michael Creed (FG)
Michael Moynihan (FF)
Cork South-Central
Simon Coveney (FG)
Mícheál Martin (FF)
Cork South-West
Jim Daly (FG)
Donegal
Pearse Doherty (SF)
Pádraig MacLochlainn (SF)
Joe McHugh (FG)
Dublin Bay North
Finian McGrath (Ind)
Richard Bruton (FG)
Dublin Bay South
Eoghan Murphy (FG)
Lucinda Creighton (Renua)
Dublin Central
Mary Lou McDonald (SF)
Dublin Fingal
Clare Daly (Ind)
Darragh O’Brien (FF)
James Reilly (FG)
Dublin Mid-West
Frances Fitzgerald (FG)
Eoin Ó Broin (SF)
Dublin North-West
Róisín Shortall (SD)
Dessie Ellis (SF)
Dublin Rathdown
Shane Ross (Ind)
Dublin South-Central
Aengus Ó Snodaigh (SF)
Dublin South-West
Paul Murphy (AAA)
Seán Crowe (SF)
Dublin West
Leo Varadkar (FG)
Dún Laoghaire
Seán Barrett (FG)
Richard Boyd Barrett (PBP)
Mary Mitchell O’Connor (FG)
Galway East
Paul Connaughton (FG)
Galway West
Éamon Ó Cuív (FF)
Noel Grealish (Ind)
Seán Kyne (FG)
Kerry
Michael Healy-Rae (Ind)
Jimmy Deenihan (FG)
Martin Ferris (SF)
Kildare North
Catherine Murphy (SD)
Bernard Durkan (FG)
Emmet Stagg (Lab)
Kildare South
Seán Ó Fearghaíl (FF)
Laois
Charlie Flanagan (FG)
Brian Stanley (SF)
Sean Fleming (FF)
Limerick City
Willie O’Dea (FF)
Michael Noonan (FG)
Maurice Quinlivan (SF)
Limerick County
Patrick O’Donovan (FG)
Niall Collins (FF)
Longford-Westmeath
Robert Troy (FF)
James Bannon (FG)
Willie Penrose (Lab)
Louth
Gerry Adams (SF)
Mayo
Enda Kenny (FG)
Michael Ring (FG)
Dara Calleary (FF)
Meath East
Thomas Byrne (FF)
Meath West
Peadar Tóibín (SF)
Offaly
Barry Cowen (FF)
Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (FG)
Roscommon-Galway
Denis Naughten (Ind)
Michael Fitzmaurice (Ind)
Sligo-Leitrim
Tony McLoughlin (FG)
Martin Kenny (SF)
Tipperary
Michael Lowry (Ind)
Tom Hayes (FG)
Waterford
John Deasy (FG)
John Halligan (Ind)
Wexford
Brendan Howlin (Lab)
Paul Kehoe (FG)
Mick Wallace (Ind)
Wicklow
Simon Harris (FG)
Stephen Donnelly (SD)
By Conor McMorrow, RTÉ's Political Staff
