The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, is starting a recruitment drive for new members and candidates for the local and European elections next year.
Mr Kenny said he wanted to encourage women, young people and lapsed members into the party, which has about 20,000 members at present.
He wanted to increase this by 5,000 ahead of the elections next year, when the party will attempt to recover from the loss of 23 Dáil seats in the general election.
With only two Dáil seats in Dublin, Mr Kenny said the party would target 43 key urban centres for new members. The party will distribute information leaflets and membership forms door to door and place advertisements in the provincial newspapers.
After an internal report last autumn warned that the party faced electoral extinction if it did not undergo radical and wide-ranging reform, Mr Kenny said he needed candidates to stand in both the EU and local elections.
However, an internal battle for nominations in certain European constituencies has already begun, with Senator Jim Higgins believed to be seeking a nomination in Connacht/Ulster.
Mr Kenny said: "I'm looking for people with conviction and ambition to join and to stand for the party in every constituency, every local authority, every town and county council and every ward in [the Republic of\] Ireland." He wanted women from diverse backgrounds to join the party and the involvement of young people was critical.
He added: "Of 15 countries in the developed world surveyed recently, Ireland came bottom of the league for turnout among first-time voters. That is a major issue for representative democracy. We'll also be asking people who were Fine Gael members in the past to sign up again in new areas where they are living."
