Fine Gael: The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, yesterday said next year's local elections will be a critical test for the party following its disastrous general election performance.
Speaking in Killarney where the Fine Gael parlimentary party was holding a two-day meeting, he said the party planned to field 800 candidates in every electoral area and expressed confidence that Fine Gael would increase its share of the vote. Party sources say they are hoping to attract around 25 per cent of the vote, compared to the 22.5 per cent it received in the general election.
It is also seeking to retain its four MEP seats, despite the overall number of European Parliament seats being reduced from 15 to 13.
Mr Kenny said the election should be an opportunity for the public to voice its dissatisfaction with the Government at the ballot box. "There is massive discontent with the way in which the Government is managing the economy. There is a growing sense that the Government is not capable of taking responsibility for its decisions. In its seventh year of office, it is showing signs of being an arrogant and complacent administration," the Fine Gael leader said.
Party sources concede they have a difficult challenge in seeking to increase their number of local authority seats after a relatively successful performance in the 1999 local elections.
The party then won 280 seats, or 32 per cent of the seats, with just 28 per cent of the vote. In some electoral areas it gained three out of four seats, a feat which party officials say will be difficult to repeat. The campaign will include a substantial budget and a nationwide leader's tour.
Mr Kenny, who reversed the party's policy of not accepting corporate donations, said Fine Gael had raised almost €100,000 in a series of golf classics, while it aimed to raise €1.2 million in its national draw later this year.
They party is planning to aggressively target the Dublin area, where its vote was dramatically reduced in the general election, and will pair TDs with new local election candidates in order to canvass local areas more effectively.
Selection conventions have already been held for a number of candidates and all are due to be completed by the end of November.
No decision, however, has been made on the timing of conventions for the European elections, pending the publication of a boundary commission report expected in October.
As part of the build-up to the election, Mr Kenny said the party would run a series of policy conferences around the country later this year, leading up to its ardfheis next April.
"By that point the alternative proposition that Fine Gael wants to present to the electorate in June will be well established. The election campaign starts here for Fine Gael," he said.
The party will also send a number of "special task forces" into 14 urban areas, a move aimed at increasing its vote in town and cities. The party was also committed to maximising the number of women candidates it will run in the election, Mr Kenny said.