The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, took a step closer to establishing a formal voting pact with Labour and the Green Party, at the weekend, as he prepared for the local and European elections. The recommendation to transfer Fine Gael preferences to Labour and the Greens reflected earlier suggestions to their party conferences by Mr Rabbitte and Mr Sargent. The June elections have now been identified as the take-off-point from where the three parties will attempt to woo the electorate and put together the framework of an alternative government.
The difficulty of the task facing Mr Kenny was reflected in the outspoken aggression of his speech to delegates. The Coalition Government, and particularly Fianna Fáil, was accused of arrogance, dishonesty, political amnesia, bribery and corruption, a failure of vision and ethics and a range of other malfunctions that demanded ejection from office. Ministers had grown comfortable and arrogant in power, he said, and it was time to get them out.
Fine Gael has a mountain to climb. And Mr Kenny knows it cannot be done without the help and voting transfers of both the Labour Party and the Green Party. As things stand, Fine Gael is almost certain to lose council seats. In 1999, it won 32 per cent of the seats available with only 28 per cent of the vote. Since the general election of 2002, when it lost 20 Dáil seats, its vote has hovered at about 22 per cent.
The losses facing Fine Gael on June 11th could be minimised by a positive voting transfer pattern. Support for both Labour and the Green Party has risen since 1999. In a very real sense, the fortunes of Fine Gael are dependent on the performances of its new political allies and sometimes rivals.
The difficulties facing the party in the immediate future are reflected by the emphasis being placed on the general election.
Mr Kenny is playing a long game and, in that regard, he appealed to small business people - the support base of the Progressive Democrats - by offering them a dedicated minister in government. First time house buyers were promised help, along with those needing childcare. Reform of education at third level and the improvement of overall literacy levels were priorities, as was the need to create a more caring, egalitarian society. Truth in government and a crackdown on organised crime made up the package.
For the past number of months, there has been a growing level of co-operation between the main opposition parties in the Dáil as they targeted the Government on such issues as health, widows' benefits, housing, social welfare, transport and corruption. Gradually, opposition by the parties has become more coherent. And, as their belief in the vulnerability of the Government grows, so has their determination to form the next government. There is a long way to go. But the electorate will be offered a specific alternative.