Patrick MacGill Summer School:Fianna Fáil's election campaign was based on "fear and scaremongering", while the newly elected Government is "inherently unstable", Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has charged.
Launching a strong attack on Fianna Fáil, Mr Kenny said he intended to fulfil the electoral mandate given to him by replacing Fianna Fáil as the largest party in the Dáil in the next general election.
Speaking at the opening of the Patrick MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, Mr Kenny said Fianna Fáil's conduct of the campaign was "dishonest" in places.
"I fought the general election on a positive platform for change - not change just for the sake of change - but of change for the better," he said.
"However, the message from our main opponent, Fianna Fáil, was very different. Their message was based on fear and scaremongering. They offered nothing but more of the same and dishonest attacks on the proposals of other parties.
"While these scare tactics may have been enough to persuade some people to stick with Fianna Fáil on this occasion, I very much doubt if these voters expected the dolly mixture combination of incompatible parties and individuals which was cobbled together after the election."
Saying that he was committed to fulfilling the mandate given by 600,000 voters, Mr Kenny said Fine Gael will offer "vigorous but constructive opposition to this inherently unstable government.
"Our objective is to replace Fianna Fáil as the largest party in the next Dáil and as the main force in the next government," he told the summer school.
"On the domestic front, the problems that existed before the recent general election remain - the crisis in the health service, the rise in serious crime and the waste of public money.
"Despite the denial of their existence by the outgoing government, these are very serious problems which must be tackled but I see no political will in the recently formed Government to even recognise them, much less provide effective solutions," he said.
Mr Kenny said that "the Programme for Government, which, apart from a few cosmetic additions to fool the Greens into believing that they have some influence, is essentially the Fianna Fáil manifesto with a new cover. It offers nothing more than a continuation of the policies of the past. It will not equip this country to meet the challenges of the future so that we can remain successful and prosperous while providing the quality public services our people deserve."
On the economy, the Fine Gael leader said Irish business is now increasingly uncompetitive in the global market, with Ireland's share of world trade peaking in 2002, and falling ever since.
