Two opinion polls at the weekend suggest that the current Fine Gael/Labour Coalition Government will fall short of a majority.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Adrian Kavanagh of the Department of Geography at Maynooth University, said that Labour needs to reach the magic number of 10% and above for it to translate that into seats. At the moment, Labour is between 6% and 9% in the polls.
Mr Kavanagh said the news for Fine Gael is better, though. It is holding level since the last poll and if it can push on, it will be the largest party, with seats in the 60s, and maybe even the low 70s.
Speaking on the same programme, Harry McGee, Political Correspondent of the Irish Times, said it was all about "coalitionology", with much speculation about combinations. Fine Gael will not be able to govern by itself, Labour will struggle, and Fianna Fáil’s preferred option is to go into opposition.
At its weekend Ard Fheis, Fianna Fáil ruled out going into coalition with either Fine Gael or Sinn Féin. According to Mr McGee, if Fianna Fáil went into coalition with Fine Gael, Sinn Féin would eclipse it as the larger party, and if it went into coalition with Sinn Féin, it could face a backlash.
Speaking about the 23-26% support for independents in the polls, Mr McGee said it was a very diverse group and votes may not transfer between them all that easily, for example, from Renua to some of the other small parties.
Meanwhile, a leading political scientist at Queen Mary University of London has said he believes people are more prepared to listen to Fianna Fáil than they were four years ago.
Professor Tim Bale, who advised Fianna Fáil on what to do after its heavy defeat four years ago, came back to give the party a progress report at its Ard Fheis. His verdict is that there is "some progress there but not a miracle".
He also said he believed that party leader Micheál Martin has done a good job of keeping the party together.
He said that the party was not in a position to form the next government but that staying in the game, following a defeat such as that of the last general election, was incredibly important.
Prof Bale added that Fianna Fáil would want to see itself positioned as the second biggest party after Fine Gael following the election.
He added that ruling out a coalition with Sinn Féin sent a message about what Fianna Fáil thought of the party.
He said if Fianna Fáil was to signal it would enter coalition with Fine Gael, that it would be a boost to Sinn Féin, which likes to portray itself as the underdog party.
Prof Bale told RTÉ's Morning Ireland that Fianna Fáil should keep the focus on issues rather than coalition prospects during the campaign.
Meanwhile, Pat the Cope Gallagher, one of the Fianna Fáil candidates in Donegal, has said he is very hopeful that the party could secure two seats in the county.
Speaking to RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta Political Correspondent Mícheál Ó Leidhin, Mr Gallagher said that he had a good relationship with Charlie McConalogue and denied that he was targeting his seat.
"I come from the old constituency of Donegal southwest, and Charlie is from what was Donegal northeast, so in general he will be targeting his own area there and I will be focused on my old constituency, that’s the general arrangement we have made. It we can manage the vote properly, we have a very good chance."
"According to our own polls in Donegal, we have more than 25% or 26%, and 16% is the quota for a five-seater constituency, so if we got 26% and we managed the vote well we would have an excellent chance."
