A sure sign of an impending general election are the politicians' promises, but do they stand up to scrutiny, asks Tim O'Brien
Most pre-election promises are merely regional - a hospital or two, the extension of the DART, the odd international airport or a solution to the problem of illegal television signal deflectors.
But some, including Mr Michael Noonan's promise to compensate Eircom shareholders through the PAYE system, are all-encompassing. Probably most memorable are those of the Lynch manifesto for the 1977 general election which offered free car-tax and the ending of domestic rates. Fianna Fáil won by a landslide and rates and car tax were duly abolished - if not for long. Car tax returned fairly swiftly while domestic charges, at least for refuse, are again imposed by all local authorities.
Probably the oldest promise - apart from the "reintegration of the national territory" made by successive governments from as early as the 1930s - was to drain the Shannon. Mercifully, much environmental damage was prevented by the failure of successive governments to deliver.
The promise of an international airport on a hillside in Co Mayo was made by the then Fianna Fáil leader Mr Charles Haughey in the early 1980s. The on/off saga raged through the various changes of governments in the first years of that decade, as first Mr Haughey promised grant-aid, only to have it cancelled by the succeeding Dr Garret FitzGerald-led coalition.
Dr FitzGerald was not without his promises, too, and few will forget his plan to give each stay-at-home wife a weekly allowance of £9.60. While the idea of a weekly payment for such women garnered some support, the State coffers were bare in the 1980s and the idea was allowed to die quietly.
The 1987 general election saw Fianna Fáil return to power with promises to replace doom and gloom with boom and bloom. The slogan "health cuts hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped" appeared on Fianna Fáil election placards but later became discredited as the incoming government realised the full extent of the financial problems.
All promises have a common thread, however - regardless of how outlandish opponents may claim they are, there is always a trenchant argument put forward in their defence.