Michael Bloomberg’s Democratic opponent, City Comptroller William Thompson, has yet to get his campaign off the ground but is counting on a last minute surge of support and anger at Bloomberg pushing through a third term provision to bring him to victory.

Thompson will also be counting on Irish support. He has Irish staffer Pat Doherty, who essentially created the MacBride Principles, a set of legal outlines precluding investment in firms in Northern Ireland that practiced discrimination, which were hugely successful.

Doherty has been a constant in the Irish community for many years and has created a strong support base for Thompson there. In addition, Thompson has promised to invest New York City funds in Northern Ireland to help the peace process.

He has made several trips to Belfast and is on friendly terms with leading Sinn Fein members there. 

There are still questions to be answered about when the New York City money will be allocated to Northern Ireland -- a fact that led to a Village Voice story on Thompson recently.