I suppose Brendan you could say that Renua and the Social Democrats have no mandate from the people/were not elected as they stand this time out so where does their profile come from? Personally I don't think there's much point in a 'we're also a political party' debate anyway - just stick to Enda/Micheal/Gerry.
Secondly, have you heard anything about the Green Party election campaign on the news APART from this case being taken? I think 'bad' publicity is better than none at all, particularly when you're a party that no one wants to debate against*.
* In the context of no one wanting to be seen as anti-environment, local community etc.