FOR a party on the defensive, with a former leader accused of receiving £1.1 million from Ben Dunne while in office, Fianna Fail put on a brave show at the weekend.
Bertie Ahern looked to the future and promised new standards for all members. He would not tolerate any deviation from "the benchmarks of honour" at local or national level. No one, he said, with considerable conviction, would be welcome in the party if they betrayed the public trust.
And the thousands of delegates responded with enthusiasm. The biggest party in the State came before any individual. Charlie Haughey had operated the same rules while he led the party. There was nothing personal in it. This was politics.
And yet, had Mr Haughey walked through that ardfheis door, he would have received a standing ovation, in spite of any future embarrassment it might cause to Mr Ahern.
The ties of political struggle and achievement still bound. They had survived other dark days with the man the media loved to hate. And the McCracken Tribunal had not even begun its hearings.
Mr Ahern responded to the groundswell and appealed for natural justice. A man was innocent until proven guilty. He had great regard for Charles Haughey and for the tremendous job he had done for Fianna Fail and for the country.
In any event, Fianna Fail was not on trial, he insisted. The allegations had nothing to do with the party and, unlike Fine Gael and the Labour Party, Fianna Fail had received no money from Ben Dunne.
As for the McCracken Tribunal, it was entirely inappropriate that John Bruton should be in a position to manipulate and exploit it by stopping its hearings at a certain point when he called the general election.
All or none of the evidence should be heard before the election, Mr Ahern said.
There was, some delegates believed, a vast conspiracy out there against Fianna Fail. The timing of the McCracken Tribunal, to coincide with the general election, had been carefully planned by Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Democratic Left
And Dick Spring's arrogant refusal to join it in government was not just a studied insult, but part of an anti-democratic plan to keep Fianna Fail out of office. But it wouldn't work. Fianna Fail would fight. And Fianna Fail would win.
The new party leader took it as his text. It was a case of "back to the future" in his televised address: Finnna Fail against the rest. There wasn't a single reference in his ardfheis speech to the Progressive Democrats, or to a coalition government involving Fianna Fail. All undertakings were couched in terms of "a Fianna Fail government will". It was what the troops wished to hear.
Post-election detail had been dealt with on the opening night when Mr Ahern had offered a Fianna Fail majority as his first choice, followed by an arrangement with the Progressive Democrats.
After that, he "would not rule out any combination that has worked well in the past or any new done that might work well in the future".
Did that mean a possible arrangement with Fine Gael You could not, a senior official responded coldly, analyse what Mr Ahern had said to that extent. He $ had been speaking of the Labour Party and other small groups.
But there was change. Fianna Fail had become a party of policies. Gone were the days of the great national movement" which reacted pragmatically to unfolding events. Mr Ahern's two years as leader had been devoted to a process of consultation with the people and the creation of a complete range of new policies, reflecting the aspirations and needs of the electorate.
The fight against crime was the party's top priority and it would enforce "zero tolerance" with more gardai, more prison spaces and more financial resources.
Unemployment, equality, education and health care would become priorities and it would introduce "real tax-cutting as a fundamental and central party of economic policy".
Fianna Fail would work hard to create a new peace process in Northern Ireland. It rejected coercion from any quarter and believed that Ireland could only be united in peace and agreement.
Mr Ahern's efforts to give Fianna Fail a distinct identity at political centre-stage were hindered by the fact that the Government parties already occupy much of that ground.
He put distance between himself and the Progressive Democrats by ruling out water charges and by championing the cause of public service workers. "Go and cut your Government's waste," he charged the Rainbow Coalition, "but do not cut our Government workers."
As for the McCracken Tribunal and its possible political impact, it was clear the manure would be $ spread across all parties. More Ministers had been forced to resign from this Government, Mr Ahern said, than from any others in the history of the State. (Phil Hogan, Hugh Coveney and Michael Lowry). Two other Ministers involved in the hepatitis C scandal should have resigned (Brendan Howlin and Michael Noonan) and the Minister for Justice, in name only, (Nora Owen), should still go.
This coalition Government, he declared, was not about principles. It was about power. Power at any price. Power without respect for the people. Which brought him to Dick Spring; the great hate-figure of the ardfheis, the man whose "personal preference" was "far more important than the votes of the Irish people"; the man who stood between Fianna Fail and a certain place in government.
The name ran through the ardfheis like an infection. Brian Cowen practically spat it out in many manifestations during his "warm-up" speech for Mr Ahern; Joe Walsh used his name to anger farmers; Charlie McCreevy represented him as a knifeman who struck from behind John O'Donoghue saw him as the main Dail opponent of tough anti-crime legislation and Seamus Brennan produced a list of Mr Spring's arrogant and unpleasant behaviour".
It was strong defence-attack stuff. But targeting Labour and Mr Spring increased that party's profile, without necessarily improving Finnna Fail's vote-getting prospects. And attracting votes is the prime consideration. In that regard, the allegations against Mr Haughey may not damage Fianna Fail's core vote. But they will certainly have an impact on voting transfers from other parties and they may also influence first-time voters.
Mr Ahern performed well in extremely difficult circumstances, maintaining party cohesion while distancing himself from any past wrongdoing. And he took the fight to the Government over the McCracken Tribunal. A bad week for Fianna Fail. A good one for the party leader.