Fine Gael would not discuss the formation of a government with Sinn Fein while the republican party had "a military wing", Mr Michael Noonan, said yesterday in his first press conference as party leader.
Asked about possible government formation, he said he would "not be talking to Sinn Fein as long as they have a military wing" as Fine Gael would only talk to parties whose "democratic nature mirrors our own - and Fine Gael does not have a military wing".
Mr Noonan said Fianna Fail would also be excluded as potential coalition partners as Fine Gael "is in the business of providing an alternative government".
He said he supported former leader Mr John Bruton's stance on the North which he said was "widely misunderstood".
Describing himself as a nationalist who was outward-looking and pluralist, Mr Noonan said he deplored militant republicanism.
During the 1980s, moderate nationalists in the North had an "affinity" for Fine Gael. Now, SDLP supporters looked to Fianna Fail, something he said he wants to change.
He also said he was banning corporate funding for the party. Funding to fight the next general election would come, instead, from donations from private citizens, who could give up to £1,000.
He said he would also be preparing legislation to ban corporate funding for all political parties.
Mr Noonan admitted his "political career was damaged by the McCole case", referring to controversy over his handling as Minister for Health of the case of Mrs Brigid McCole, who died from hepatitis C as a result of blood products administered by the Blood Transfusion Services Board.
He said the affair affected him "as a politician and a person". The case brought "great grief to the McCole family and great anguish to other sufferers of hepatitis C". Health would be the party's main issue in the next general election. Another important area was the inequality of access to education which currently existed.
Other problems he would address as leader were housing, the role of women whether at home or at work, and alienation among young people.
Asked about individualisation in taxation, he said he would widen the standard rate tax band for couples where one partner stayed at home "so there would be no inequality".
Mr Noonan said he would announce his new front bench next Thursday. He said he would be organising it in terms of a small number of spokespeople in key areas, who would be covering a range of issues.
Mr Noonan said he would also resist pressure from Europe to change the State's level of corporate taxation.
He said there was no choice between economic models any longer. The difference for people is between social models and "if I were poor or old or ill I would prefer to live in France, Germany or Denmark rather than the US. I believe in the social contract", which he said was flawed in the State.