Ardfheis briefs: in short

The Fine Gael ardfhies in brief

Fifty-eight of 100 Fine Gael delegates asked believe Labour leader Pat Rabbitte's pledge that his party will not go into government with Fianna Fáil if it does not have enough seats for coalition with Fine Gael, according to a Newstalk radio survey.

Sixty-two delegates would not accept the Progressive Democrats as part of the rainbow coalition while 38 said they would.

There was an overwhelming rejection, 86 per cent, of hospital co-location.

Enda Kenny got a 92 per cent endorsement that he was a strong leader - 64 said very strong and 28 opted for strong, while eight said he was good. The other options were fair and poor. A question about who should replace him as leader should the party fail to get into government was abandoned when the first seven delegates refused to answer.

Fine Gael is the only party to have a dedicated marine spokesman and will "return a minister for the marine to the Cabinet table", Cork South West candidate and former TD PJ Sheehan pledged. He said Minister for Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey "doesn't know a herring from a pinkie".

The party's marine spokesman John Perry said 3,000 jobs could be created through the revitalisation of Ireland's 8,300 miles of inland waterways, which were currently "absolutely closed down", while angling tourist numbers had fallen from 54,000 to 27,000. He promised a €100 million investment in inland fisheries for habitat improvement works, restocking rivers and lakes and improving water quality, as well as promoting tourism.

A candidate in Sligo-North Leitrim, Mr Perry said Fine Gael would increase current funding for marine by €25 million each year and pledged €520 million for the marine sector over the seven years of the National Development Plan, of which €320 million would go to fishery harbours infrastructure.

Clare candidate Cllr Joe Carey said two of the largest population centres on the west coast, Ennis and Galway, did not have drinking water - a "damning indictment of the Government's regional policy".

There was a last-minute allocation of millions to Galway "after pressure to react", Mr Carey said.

Galway East candidate Cllr Tom McHugh said the first step in balanced regional development should be the reopening of the entire western rail corridor from Sligo to Ennis. He said balanced development was as important for urban as for rural dwellers. The corridor would take three years to complete, would cost €380 million and could be fully operational by 2010.

The ESB is a "great national asset" but it should not be favoured above the consumer, Cork North Central candidate Cllr Gerry Kelly said. Electricity prices were 19 per cent above the EU average and the third highest in the EU after Italy and Germany. The Government could not blame international instability alone for high energy costs.

Cllr Richard Daly, a candidate in Kildare South, said electricity and gas prices should revert to the level of last September. There were 57 amber alerts last year "that brought the country to the edge of a complete blackout".

Fine Gael's agriculture spokesman Denis Naughten TD, Longford-Roscommon, has warned that there will be no food or farming industry here in 20 years "unless we begin to encourage more young people into the sector and put in the resources and supports now to make farming a viable and attractive option".

On the extent of the "succession crisis" in farming, he said Fine Gael would structure tax relief on leased land to ensure they encouraged longer leasing periods of 15 years and more and would look at other barriers to leasing, including the means test on the State pension. Mr Naughten also called for food business and enterprise to be put on the secondary school curriculum.