FINE GAEL leader Enda Kenny has set out the policy pitch he hopes will deliver a resounding victory in the next General Election.
Today he will unveil the details of his party’s proposals for reforming the political system.
And on Saturday he warned his colleagues that, unless they were willing to stomach pain implementing this, he could not ask the public to reform.
"If we are to drive the radical changes this country needs, we in politics must prove ourselves willing to change and willing to sacrifice.
"Fine Gael is the party that set up the institutions of this state. That is why it is fitting that Fine Gael is the party which will reform these institutions so that they can meet the needs of the Ireland of tomorrow."
This plan would involve cutting the number of TDs by 20, abolishing Seanad Éireann and changing how the Dáil conducts its business.
Where referenda were required, he said ballots would be held within one year of Fine Gael taking office.
Mr Kenny deflected attention from criticism of his personal style.
And he listed the members of his frontbench team who he believed could lead the next government.
He name-checked Dr James Reilly, Alan Shatter, Simon Coveney and Leo Varadkar.
And he said his deputy leader, Richard Bruton, was the "right man to run the Department of Finance at this critical time for this country".
Mr Kenny’s 24-minute speech was more policy-focused than previous years and he tacked away from direct criticism of either Taoiseach Brian Cowen or Tánaiste Mary Coughlan. However, these two figures, along with the Green Party, were the butt of a biting video montage which was screened before his speech.
Mr Kenny said the most important part of Fine Gael’s policy drive was its commitment to deliver jobs in the short and long term.
"Unemployment and emigration are huge scourges. We know the damage they did to our communities and families in the 1980s and before. This tide of emigration has started to flow again. I am determined to stem that tide," he said.
A series of frontbenchers warmed up the crowd ahead of Mr Kenny’s arrival.
The most successful was an un-scripted Michael Ring who let rip at the legacy of the Fianna Fáil-Green Party coalition. He said the Green Party’s ministerial rotation request made it seem like Cabinet was a Fás scheme with ministers working a week on and a week off.
Mr Ring said both parties, including former taoiseach Bertie Ahern, where only in politics for what they could get out of it.
Mr Ahern was like Del Boy driving around the country "selling books out of his boot", he said.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, March 22, 2010
