Politicians are gearing up for a short, sharp battle for power

Now the date has finally been announced, we face a fairly short election campaign that will be split into what campaigners call the air war and the ground war, says Theresa Reidy

Speculation about the election date had been dragging on since October giving us a four-month phoney war where everyone knew an election was imminent but direct campaigning had to be a little discreet.

Now that the starter gun has been fired, we face a fairly short election campaign which will be split into what campaigners call the air war and the ground war.