The President of Ireland, Michael D Higgins, dissolved the Dáil, on 8th November and a general election will take place in the Republic on the 29th of this month. The two main coalition parties in Government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, go into this electoral contest nervous but expectant of a good result on the basis of recent favourable opinion polls. Nervous because there is little enthusiasm for the present administration but hopeful because of the travails of the main opposition party, Sinn Féin.