Analysis: No power without responsibility: that is the PDs' 2004 message to local councillors, writes Mark Hennessy, Political Correspondent
Up to now, the Progressive Democrats have struggled to make progress in local government, running, as they did, just 62 candidates back in 1999. Today the party holds 23 local authority seats.
However, its interest in council chambers is changing as it readies to send 134 candidates out into the field in June. "We are not doing this as a paper exercise. We are not running paper candidates," declared the party's president and Minister for Justice, Mr Michael McDowell, yesterday.
The strategy is not without its boldness: local government is important, but it has been performed badly for too long in too many places, the PDs believe.
"Local politics plays a greater part in enhancing the quality of the lives of citizens than national government does," the Tánaiste, Ms Harney, commented yesterday.
Despite the evidence of some of its actions in government, she said the PDs were committed to giving extra powers to local authorities.
"But that is a double-edged sword. It means that local politicians have to have the guts and the capacity to be able to seize the power to make decisions. Unfortunately when the power was transferred from the Custom House to local authorities in relation to taxis too many local authorities funked their responsibilities and the power had to be taken back again. That is too often the story of local government when power is devolved to it," said the PD leader, who claimed that PD councillors would take "hard decisions".
The same situation has applied since the Minister for Justice granted power last year to local authorities to regulate late drinking in their neighbourhoods.
"I have not seen one local authority begin to use that power," said Mr McDowell.
Under new legislation, councillors will have a formal line of communication with the Garda Síochána.
But communication is a two-way process, he warned. "It isn't simply going to be a question of public representatives complaining about this or that." Instead, the Garda will be able to raise the failure of councillors to use drinking by-laws, and other issues such as planning housing estates properly.
Indeed, the most striking element of the local election manifesto is its focus on planning difficulties, ranging from incompetence to corruption.
Such is this focus, and such the scale of the promises made, that one could be forgiven for forgetting that the PDs have been in government for the last seven years.
Land-owners and developers should only get some of the windfall gains caused by rezonings, the manifesto says, while an independent agency should first rule on how much land is actually needed for housing in an area before councillors rezone anything.
"In new apartment developments we believe a set proportion of all units must be designated as continental-style 'family-friendly' units, i.e., three to four bedrooms," the manifesto says.
While more buildings should be built, they must also be of a higher standard.
"We must ensure that they stand the test of time," the Tánaiste said.
The newly displayed interest in building standards will, no doubt, be welcomed, even if it is a little late given the construction, with the aid of tax reliefs, of apartments little bigger than rabbit hutches over the last decade in city centres around the State.
Equally, the Tánaiste's interest will be noted by the tens of thousands forced to live in houses where the noises of next door's alarm clock, stereos and worse are daily intrusions.
The party's increasingly rural support base is reflected in its local election candidates, including Mr Liam Egan, who once ran Minister of State, Mr Tom Parlon's leadership campaigns during the latter's time in the Irish Farmers' Association.
"Now we have 17 candidates running in Laois/Offaly. We won't get all of them elected, but it indicates the strength of the party in the constituency," said Mr Egan.
The Progressive Democrats are also trying to put down roots in Kerry. One of the party's three candidates in the county, Ms Collette Garvey-O'Doherty, was bullish yesterday. "The PDs don't choose second-best, and neither do I."
The better regional penetration is seen also in Longford, where five candidates are in the hunt for county council and urban district council places. In Louth, the party will have nine candidates; in Wicklow, four, while heartlands such as Galway remain strong.
Ms Harney will be hoping that the standards of the highly impressive Ms Garvey-O'Doherty and others like her will still be flying high after June 11th.
"We have plenty of greenfield sites to offer for new candidates. Maybe in some places we could have more than one deputy elected," she said.