THE Taoiseach, Mr Bruton, stood over his assertion yesterday that the Opposition leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, was "the most over-estimated man" in Irish politics.
At a news conference in Cork Airport, Mr Bruton said Mr Ahern, who was also in Cork yesterday, had backed off his challenge to debate the general election issues with him in the city.
"I believe he is afraid of a real debate. He is afraid to let the people of Cork hear him debate real politics. He sees politics as some kind of hand-shaking marathon, not a serious matter that affects the lives of real people. He thinks that he and his party are entitled to be returned to office just because they put their names on a ballot paper. The Irish people are too intelligent for that."
Asked if the election campaign had been reduced to name-calling Mr Bruton said he did not engage in that type of politics, but he claimed Mr Ahern was an over-estimated politician who was inconsistent and indecisive.
He went on: "In recent days, Mr Ahern has shown that, like his predecessors, he has no understanding of partnership government. He made this very clear in what he described as a `philosophical' speech the day before yesterday. He said that bigger parties in a coalition should only bring on board the relatively non-controversial and obviously beneficial proposals of the smaller party.
"In other words, what Mr Ahern has in mind is that his party, and his alone, will decide what is non-controversial and what is beneficial, and accept only those ideas from their partners. Yet, on the other side of this would-be partnership, we have the Progressive Democrats saying the direct opposite," he added.
"They talk of their non-negotiable demands on tax policy. Thus, neither Fianna Fail nor the Progressive Democrats has any real understanding of how coalitions work. Both of them will want their own way all the time. This is a recipe for a bad marriage. On top of this, Mr Bertie Ahern has established an unparalleled track record for indecisiveness. He lacks any real conviction."
Mr Bruton said that as Charles J. Haughey's candidate and protege for the leadership of Fianna Fail early in 1992, "he put his head up, dithered, ducked and walked away".
Mr Ahern, he continued had been an active participant in the break-up of three coalitions in 1989, 1992 and 1994. In recent days, he was forced to reprimand Ms Mary Harney as leader of the PDs when her utterances did not gel with his own party's policies.
These were the facts, and, Mr Bruton said, "I don't need to resort to name-calling. We should start a debate now because the electorate is entitled to hear us discuss the real issues in this election. I'm willing to debate with Bertie Ahern on my record in government and I am willing to do that anywhere."
The Opposition leader, Mr Bruton went on, had shown his indecisiveness by being unable to make up his mind whether it would be right or not for a Taoiseach to meet Sinn Fein without an IRA ceasefire. Recently Mr Ahern had to clarify his position on this three times in one day. Then, a few days ago, he could not decide who should be his Tanaiste if he were Taoiseach.
"This sort of foostering is harmless if he stays in opposition. It would be a recipe for disaster in government. The sad reality is that when there is a tough choice, Mr Ahern either wobbles or walks away. In the face of the challenge of a debate in Cork, Mr Ahern just walked away," Mr Bruton said.