Ahern urges intensive canvass next summer

Local elections: The Taoiseach urged delegates to carry out an intensive canvass in next summer's local elections.

Urging them to renew the strength of the party in every community and county, Mr Ahern said: "We must canvass on every street, we must knock on every door and we must speak to every single person to make the case for Fianna Fáil, which we so strongly believe in."

In his address, Mr Ahern said they could be proud of the progress made by Fianna Fáil in government. "And I am proud of the fact that we have worked to make Ireland the bright beacon it has become, a place where emigrants return and that other nations seek to emulate."

But he also knew, he said, that in midst of the worst global economic downturn in 20 years people were seeking assurance. "They seek the assurance of a capable Government," said Mr Ahern.

"They seek the assurance of a competent administration. They seek the assurance that when their taxes are being spent, that value for money is being obtained. In government, Fianna Fáil is working day-by-day, step-by-step, to give the people the assurance that they deserve."

He knew, he said, that people continued to sit in traffic gridlock, that some patients still wait too long for treatment and that in many other areas, too, the bright ambitions of the Irish people had yet to be fully realised. "But my message today is not a call for patience. It is not an appeal to wait. It is a rallying cry to join us, to join Fianna Fáil in building a better Ireland that we have begun."