The minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, announced the implementation of promised further restrictions on bail at last night's opening of an ardfheis Fianna Fail hopes will kick-start party reform and rejuvenation.
Mr O'Donoghue said that from May 16th next, courts will be able to refuse bail to accused persons they believe will commit other serious offences if released. This will alter the long-standing current situation in which bail can be denied only if there is a belief that the accused would not stand trial or would interfere with witnesses.
The new restriction was contained in the 1997 Bail Act, but its implementation was postponed for fear there would not be enough prison spaces for those denied bail. However, the expected availability of Cloverhill Prison's full 400 places in May allows its implementation now.
Later, the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, talked of laying the foundations for "a new era in our party", while the chairwoman of the ardfheis, Ms Sile de Valera, acknowledged in her opening speech that the party faced "tough issues, externally and internally".
In a speech calling for support for party reform and the new code of conduct, Mr Ahern said politics must be refocused on the ideal of public service. Acknowledging the damage done by revelations of wrongdoing in recent times, he said it was necessary to "renew a faith amongst our people again that politics makes a positive difference".
He promised again to take strong action "to deal with any outstanding issues from the past which remain to be addressed", but only at the conclusion of the tribunals.
The Taoiseach said he supported the development of an effective European peacekeeping capacity. However, in an apparent reference to Fine Gael's call last weekend for Irish participation in a European defence entity, he said: "There is no public support in this country for the gung-ho militarism that keeps being put forward from one particular opposition quarter."
Mr Ahern won enthusiastic applause for a strongly worded call for the closure of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, saying: "I believe enough is enough."