Fianna Fáil revealed its June election strategy at its weekend ardfheis, positioning itself as the champion of provincial Ireland and launching an intensive assault on Sinn Féin, writes Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent.
In his main address to party delegates the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, demanded "the complete retirement of all paramilitary activity" by the republican movement. Four Cabinet Ministers strongly attacked Sinn Féin in separate speeches over the weekend, reflecting the threat Fianna Fáil believes the party poses in June's local government and European Parliament elections.
The party used the ardfheis as a launch of its election campaign. With recent opinion polls suggesting Fianna Fáil could lose significantly in the local elections, the Taoiseach gave a speech at a private session for the party's 800 candidates urging them to begin canvassing now, and to claim credit for Government successes wherever they could.
As well as the concerted assault on Sinn Féin, the Taoiseach and his Ministers repeatedly drew attention to the decentralisation programme and the decision to make it easier to build one-off housing in the countryside, moves seen by the party as significant vote-winners outside Dublin.
In his speech Mr Ahern sought to portray Fianna Fáil as the party of fiscal responsibility and economic success. Inflation had been slashed by two-thirds, Government spending had been controlled and taxes remained low.
He said the one-off housing decision would lead to "a rural Ireland of living communities" and decentralisation would bring "real regional development". This follows his Friday night speech promising development of regional health services, saying Dublin had had the lion's share of such developments for too long.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, also reflected the view that Dublin receives unfair benefits over the rest of the State and has too much influence. He said the change in the one-off house-building regime was part of his determination to ensure city dwellers no longer told rural people how to live their lives.
He said the Green Party, "who haven't a single TD from a rural area, want to sit in their metropolitan ivory towers and pronounce to the people of Ireland how they should live their lives.
"These are the same people who, on the back of spending two weeks a year in rural Ireland believe that qualifies them to make decisions on behalf of people who live there for 52 weeks a year. Well not any more. Not as long as this deputy is Minister for the Environment or Fianna Fáil is in government."
Both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance gave unqualified commitments that the Government's decentralisation programme would be completed in its entirety, despite criticism from the Opposition and the reluctance of many public servants to move.
"Fianna Fáil will deliver on decentralisation," Mr Ahern said. Decentralisation would bring "a change of attitude", would bring government "closer to the people" and give "entire towns and villages the opportunity to meet their potential".
Mr McCreevy said the Government's commitment to decentralisation was "absolute", and that the programme was an expression of "confidence in provincial Ireland". It would proceed, it would not be rolled back, and the concerns of many public servants would be overcome. Sinn Féin was strongly criticised for its economic policy, its attitude to the EU and other issues. The criticism came from four Cabinet Ministers: Mr Dermot Ahern, Mr Martin Cullen, Mr John O'Donoghue and Mr Michael Smith. Party sources said this reflected a fear that Sinn Féin could make gains not only in urban areas but also in rural Ireland in the local government elections. The emphasis on regional health services and rural development is an attempt to neutralise candidates running on local issues such as perceived threats to local hospitals.
The Taoiseach demanded that the republican movement give "an absolute commitment to exclusively peaceful means" involving "the complete retirement of all paramilitary activity. Nationalist Ireland, this republican party, the Irish people, demand no less", he said.