Fianna Fáil árd fheis - Promises! Promises! Promises!

The delegates from the weekend’s Fianna Fáil árdfheis no doubt went home in an upbeat mood after party leaders imbued them with a renewed spirit of enthusiasm, reinforced by Ireland’s magnificent win against England at Twickenham, to which Taoiseach Bertie Ahern adverted.

While the country was euphoric about the Irish team delivering the goods against the odds on Saturday, the same could not be said about the promises made, and reiterated, over the course of the political rally.

Mr Ahern and his team have still to prove themselves in the local and European elections in three months’ time and the odds, at this stage, are not great. In fact, a major plank from which Mr Ahern essentially launched his party’s election campaign, that of a better health service, was rebuffed the following day when a new national health service lobby group was launched yesterday.