The general election will take place in May, with the Progressive Democrats leaving open the option of joining a government with Fine Gael and Labour afterwards, it emerged at the PD conference at the weekend.
The Tánaiste, Ms Harney, said yesterday she had no doubt the election would take place in May. She and the Taoiseach had already discussed possible dates within that month. "It's something we will agree closer to the event," she said.
The party's new president, Mr Michael McDowell, said the party was open to coalition options other than with Fianna Fáil, raising the possibility of it entering government with Fine Gael and Labour. While Mr McDowell and Ms Harney portrayed the prospect of Labour entering government as a major threat to jobs and prosperity, Mr McDowell told reporters: "It is not the case that our only possible partner is Fianna Fáil."
Government with Fine Gael and Labour represents the only possible alternative to coalition with Fianna Fáil, but Ms Harney and Mr McDowell both warned against a return of Labour to government, McDowell saying it would be a "disastrous mischance . . . the first casualties will be tens of thousands of jobs and with them the chance of social justice for hundreds of thousands of people".
However, speaking to reporters later, Mr McDowell remarked that the party had suffered in the 1997 campaign when Fine Gael, Labour and Democratic Left ruled them out as possible coalition partners. Leaving their post-election options open is seen to be an attempt to maximise support and to win lower placed transfer votes from all party supporters, as well as giving them an alternative should the present Government not win enough seats to return.
While Ms Harney insisted they would fight the election as an independent party, she said in her keynote speech on Saturday night that the PDs "generously salute the achievement of the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern" in running "the most successful and the most long-lasting coalition in the history of this State".
Ms Harney and other senior figures declared they had a target of eight seats, although most observers would see them as having realistic chances in some six constituencies.
In her conference speech Ms Harney avoided calling for a Yes vote in the abortion referendum or saying how she would vote. The omission came as divisions surfaced in the party over the referendum, with Dún Laoghaire candidate Ms Fiona O'Malley saying she would vote No, and Minister of State Ms Liz O'Donnell refusing to say how she would vote.
In an interview on RTÉ Radio's This Week programme, Ms Harney said she would vote Yes and that the proposal represented "a step forward". She acknowledged her party was divided on the mater and said they had a free vote on "matters of conscience".
Mr McDowell said his new position was not a rival post to that of the party leader. "Mary Harney and I know each other well. We have a warm personal relationship," he said. "I don't think she regards me as someone lurking in the long grass" waiting to take over.
Ms Caroline Casey, who recently trekked across southern India on an elephant, addressed a Young Progressive Democrats workshop on the topic of leadership. Ms Casey (30), who is visually impaired, raised €320,000 during her trip for the Aisling Project, a charity she set up to raise funds for the National Council for the Blind, Sight Savers International and for the protection of the Asian elephant.