The new leader of Fine Gael, Mr Michael Noonan, might have hoped for more auspicious circumstances on the occasion of his first major speech to the Irish people. But the immediate threat of foot-and-mouth disease forced the cancellation of the party's two-day ardfheis at the weekend and a limited, Dublin-based conference was substituted. In spite of that, the broad platform on which Fine Gael intends to fight the coming general election was unveiled in a televised address by Mr Noonan and there was quiet satisfaction amongst his supporters that a positive start had been made.
Under the slogan: "Giving Politics Back to the People", Mr Noonan offered a reforming programme that would take the European social model as its template, rather than United States capitalism. Better social services were required, he said. The health services had to be overhauled and the lives of senior citizens improved. Young people had to be guaranteed better education facilities and the scandal of illiteracy confronted.
Mr Noonan said that women would have to be encouraged to participate in public life and any attempt to conscript them to the workforce through fiscal measures must be opposed. Better childcare facilities were required as a matter of urgency. And the physical infrastructure of society in terms of housing, transport and other services had to be upgraded.
Cleaning up Irish politics was a priority for the new Fine Gael leader and he advocated a ban on corporate funding while opposing the Government's plans to increase political spending at election time. Mr Noonan said that Fine Gael would look to the ordinary voters for contributions to fund its campaign and, referring to Daniel O'Connell and Michael Collins, Mr Noonan spoke of reinventing Fine Gael as a national movement. In the same vein, he championed the use of the Irish language and emphasised Fine Gael's contribution to constitutional Irish nationalism by way of the Sunningdale and Anglo-Irish Agreements. The party, he insisted, must reclaim the national flag from the men of violence whose only mandate was their warped version of history. Fine Gael was a nationalist party but it emphasised the true meaning of the Tricolour: peace between Orange and Green.
The broad social democratic message articulated by Mr Noonan was clearly intended to appeal to the Labour Party, whose support Fine Gael will need to form a future government. As might be expected on such an occasion, policies were outlined in broad brush strokes. But there appeared to be a lack of coherence at the heart of Mr Noonan's new departure because further tax cuts were promised even as he signalled significant increases in social spending. No doubt these matters will be teased out in the months ahead as the framework of the next election campaign takes shape. As for his weekend rallying cry to his party, Mr Noonan can be satisfied by a job well done.