Mayo is bracing itself for huge void in its political landscape

The recent political changes at government level have created an unfounded sense of renewed expectations.

New Taoiseach Simon Harris can't do in 10 or 11 months what his predecessors failed to do over the past decade, most notably in regard to housing, health service delivery and a breakdown in law and order.

So why has he put undue pressure on himself and his government colleagues by suggesting otherwise?

It would have been far more savvy of him to have declared an autumn general election and start preparing for it.

By failing to do so, Simon Harris has only compounded the perception, rightly or wrongly, that they are running scared of Sinn Féin and prolonging the day when they have to face Mary Lou McDonald and her team from the lonely ranks of the opposition benches of Dáil Éireann.

It is true Fine Gael is in disarray due to a long list of retirements and imminent retirements, leaving it in a position where it is not prepared for an election by a long chalk.

Here in Mayo the retirement of long-serving TD Michael Ring is set to have a devastating impact on the party's plans to retain two seats while opening the door wider for Sinn Féin to double its representation in the five-seat constituency, having had Rose Conway-Walsh elected for the first time in 2020.

Not too many years ago - 2011 to be exact - Fine Gael won four seats out of five and, as it stands, newly-appointed Castlebar Minister of State Alan Dillon looks increasingly likely to be the only FG candidate who will be elected in Mayo in the next general election.

There is no apparent successor for Michael Ring in west Mayo, nobody capable of dominating the political field like he could.

He was a master electioneer with enormous vote-pulling power. He walked the hard miles and there was not a village or parish where he had not made his mark.

It is hard to imagine a political landscape without him standing in the centre of it but, like every aspect of life, time moves on.

And if Castlebar could find a replacement for former Taoiseach Enda Kenny, then surely Westport can do the same when Michael Ring formally confirms his retirement, possibly in the aftermath of the local elections in June.

A huge void in Mayo politics will be created and it will be fascinating to observe how the story unfolds.

Castlebar will see it as an opportunity to restore its status as a two TD town - but that's not exactly straightforward either.

The outcome of the local and European elections on June 7 will provide a revealing insight in regard to key shifts and trends.

These are massive testing grounds for all of the protagonists and, as they say, a tale will be told.