Conference sketch: It began with Eddie Hobbs, of RTÉ television's Rip-Off Republic fame, advising the Progressive Democrats to look past the media and address the public, and ended with Mary Harney and senior members of the party briefing journalists on PD tax policy, writes Michael O'Regan
Ms Harney, introducing Mr Hobbs as the guest speaker at the conference dinner on Friday night, claimed that journalists were still writing off the party after 20 years.
Mr Hobbs struck a pragmatic note, advising the PDs to consider any alternative government arrangements after the next general election.
Yesterday, the PDs announced their taxation policy, after Ms Harney's Saturday night challenge to the other parties to do the same.
Mr Hobbs's advice must have struck a chord with the party, given that it has not ruled out a post-election alliance with any party except Sinn Féin.
The PDs decided to go it alone at the next election, as the Minister for Justice and party president, Michael McDowell, who once famously coined the phrase that the party had to be radical or redundant, lambasted the Rainbow alternative.
Mr McDowell, who received a
standing ovation from delegates, also warned about the danger of Sinn Féin holding the balance of power, perhaps presaging the erection of a poster with that message in his Dublin South East constituency midway through the next election.
Mr McDowell and Dublin South TD Liz O'Donnell were among those to oppose a Meath East motion proposing a pre-election pact with Fianna Fáil, which was overwhelmingly defeated.
The only critical note about the party's Coalition partners was struck by Dublin South East's John Kenny, who successfully proposed a motion that electronic voting be scrapped in favour of the old manual system.
Minister of State for Health and local TD Tim O'Malley, in his warm-up speech in advance of Ms Harney's address, declared: "This is a party of doers and not dreamers,"
His cousin, the founder of the party, Des O'Malley, slipped quietly into his front-row seat before the leader's speech, sitting opposite his daughter, Fiona, TD for Dún Laoghaire, who was among the platform party.
The television cameras had departed when he discreetly embraced Ms Harney, with the applause of delegates still ringing in her ears.
There were empty seats for Ms Harney's address, although there was no doubting the warmth of delegates towards her. Some of the debates were poorly attended.