Major parties gear up for next election

BOTH Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael will start putting concrete plans to fight the next general election in place this autumn, even though it is three years down the road.

The disastrous local and European election results for Fianna Fáil have prompted the Taoiseach to hold a special two-day crisis meeting of the parliamentary party in West Cork in September.

Every TD, senator and MEP will be asked to come up with ideas on how Fianna Fáil canimprove their policies and organisation.

The Taoiseach has already taken soundings from Fianna Fáil TDs to get a handle on what is happening on the ground. “They have been telling him where exactly the party fell down and what we need to do to improve our election result before 2007,” said one Fianna Fáil backbencher.

Mr Ahern will spend his holidays in Kerry in close contact with advisers to sharpen the policy and organisational aspects of Fianna Fáil. He knows the party has an uphill battle in winning back public support and he will be looking for concrete proposals from his parliamentary party in the Inchydoney Island Hotel in Clonakilty on September 6 and 7.

Fine Gael is also gearing up for the next general election in the autumn by broadening their relationship with other opposition parties in the Dáil, their leader Enda Kenny said yesterday.

Buoyed by their good local and European election results, Mr Kenny said Fine Gael will be at the core of any alternative Government alliance in the lead up to the next general election. “We went into the local elections 100 seats behind Fianna Fáil and now that gap has been narrowed to 10.”

With a new raft of pragmatic policies and party reorganisation, FG will give people a real choice at the next election, he said.

Asked how FG could do that without a formal pre-election pact with Labour, Mr Kenny said: “Our responsibility is to broaden and deepen our relationship and we will start discussions around that in the autumn.”

Meanwhile, the Taoiseach held a meeting with top businessmen in Castle Howard in Wicklow at the home of wealthy lawyer Ivor Fitzpatrick on Friday.

Fianna Fáil would make no comment on the meeting other than to say that it was in a private house and no money was collected.

A spokesman would not comment on reports that Mr Ahern had pulled out of a trip to Monaco for the birthday party of millionaire businessman Sean Dunne aboard a yacht because it would not have gone down well with the public.