Fine Gael may use this weekend's ardfheis to begin to unveil its election policies , writes Mark Brennock, Chief Political Correspondent
In his welcoming message to delegates in the programme for the party's ardfheis this weekend, Enda Kenny refers to the "tremendous results in the local, European and by-elections" in 2004. "We must now build on these achievements and prepare to return to government whenever the next general election is called."
There is a good bit of building to be done. Opinion polls still show no steady increase in Fine Gael support from the dreadful performance of 2002, which lost it 32 Dáil seats. Just last weekend a Sunday Business Post/Red C poll suggested party support had fallen back to 23 per cent, just one point above the 2002 figure.
Party strategists always maintain that Fine Gael tends to do better in real elections than in polls - a point borne out by its excellent local government and European election results in 2004. But in general the polls show that Fine Gael is capable of gaining support on the back of effective criticism of the Government over specific issues.
However, they have so far failed to retain and build on that support by offering an alternative option that voters will decide to back consistently.
From last September to Christmas, Fine Gael had a great period, exploiting the backwash of the Eddie Hobbs Rip-Off Republic series and bashing the Government over overspending on the PPARS computer system.
But since then things have been quieter, and the party has not managed to put the Government on the defensive in the way it did late last year. A party spokesman maintains this is a natural outcome of the political cycle: the Dáil didn't resume until the end of January, there have been breaks for St Patrick's Day and Easter since. If opposition parties do not have the platform of the Dáil and the accompanying media coverage, they suffer. Last weekend's poll was but a symptom of that, the spokesman says.
The party has now begun a six-week series of events to raise its profile and attempt to place a coherent message in voters' minds. For the past fortnight, large Fine Gael billboard advertisements have been displayed around the State. Using the slogan "Ireland Deserves Better", they feature photographs of ordinary voters with short quotes suggesting they are worried about what would happen if they ever needed to go to hospital, that they do not feel safe in their homes, and are angry because of their perception that the Government is wasting taxpayers' money.
This weekend's ardfheis in Dublin's CityWest Hotel is seen as a large punctuation mark in this campaign. Fine Gael promises to move beyond simply seeking to align itself with public concerns - concerns that no doubt emerged from voter research commissioned by the party.
Enda Kenny's welcoming message informs delegates that this ardfheis will be "a key element" of preparations for the next general election. "We will be announcing and debating a range of fresh, exciting, new policy ideas in the key areas affecting the lives of the Irish people."
The precise level of freshness and excitement on offer will become clear tomorrow, when party spokes people unveil what are promised to be new policies offering specific remedies for problems in health (A&E, waiting lists) and crime (public concern over sentencing, bail and the treatment of victims).
New proposals are promised in other areas too.
After the ardfheis, the billboard advertisements suggesting public concern over these issues will be replaced by new ads outlining what Fine Gael proposes to do about it. And with about a year to go to the expected election date, this is not before time.
Fianna Fáil is now constantly sniping at Fine Gael and Labour for being big on general declarations that it is time for a change, but weak on the specifics of what, precisely, they would change apart from the faces around the Cabinet table.
With a general election getting closer, the party needs to say more than "there is an alternative". It must start giving some detail of what that alternative is.
Fine Gael and Labour have responded to the baiting from Fianna Fáil by saying they will not reveal full detailed policy programmes until much closer to the election.
But as time passes, Fianna Fáil claims that the alternative has little new to say will seem more reasonable to the voting public, unless they can produce the "fresh, exciting new policy ideas" that Enda Kenny has promised.
Motions tonight condemn the Government for "failing to deal with rising crime rates", seek tougher action against underage drinking and want, well, "comprehensive measures", to deal with the root causes of drug addiction.
More interesting are Young Fine Gael motions that would commit the party to backing the cafe bar licences that Michael McDowell failed to get past Fianna Fáil, and a 24-hour licensing system for alcohol sales.
The Fianna Fáil enthusiasm for reclaiming nationalism from the Provos seems to be spreading, with University of Limerick Young Fine Gael suggesting that party literature in future should contain the suffix "Fine Gael - the United Ireland Party".
A motion unequivocally welcomes the development of EU battle groups, another calls for the automatic registration to vote of all citizens who reach the age of 18, to end the current debacle over the state of the electoral register.
There are motions in all the main policy areas, but it will be in speeches from front-bench spokesmen and women that new policies will be outlined.
So far the party has raised €2 million of the €3 million it expects to spend before and during the general election campaign.
They expect to have candidates selected for all 42 constituencies by next month.
The logistical arrangements are in place for the attempt to lead a Fine Gael/Labour combination towards winning the 30 extra seats required to allow them form a government. This weekend will see an important start in the attempt to define an alternative policy programme worth voting for.