Party to target health and crime

Fine Gael will target public fears about crime, healthcare and the perceived waste of taxpayers' money in a new series of anti-Government posters.

The posters are the first phase of a six-week campaign highlighting issues raised at public meetings around the country.

Introducing the initiative, party leader Enda Kenny said Fine Gael would offer solutions to the problems at its ardfheis early next month.

This would be followed by a second phase of advertising and the campaign would end in early summer with public meetings in every county, at which he and other front bench members would outline the party's policies.

Mr Kenny played down the significance of the decision at the Progressive Democrats' conference not to enter a pre-election pact with Fianna Fáil, although he was also careful to avoid ruling out an arrangement in which Mary Harney's party could join a new rainbow coalition.

The PDs were "part of this Government and therefore part of the problem", he said.

They were now hawking themselves around to potential new partners, he added, but Fine Gael's only formal pact was with Labour, "and we want to replace the current Government".