The Fianna Fáil party has been searching for unification with its soul. This is what we are led to believe, following the two-day parliamentary party meeting in Inchydoney, in west Cork, when the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, took steps to reconcile the reality of Fianna Fáil with its perception among voters.
The deficit was highlighted in startling terms in the local election last June when the party recorded its worst results for decades.
Three months after that mid-term blow to Fianna Fáil's seven-year coalition with the Progressive Democrats, the panic merchants have had their say. The summer has intervened and there are prospects of promotion on the return of the Dáil. There is a cooler analysis of what went wrong in June. The Taoiseach has responded by facing in two directions at Inchydoney: telling the PDs and the better-off that there will be no change in the economic direction of the Government, while wrapping the mantle of social awareness around his party's shoulders. It is too early to say how this attempt to re-position a lazy, arrogant and self-satisfied Government will work out in the coming months.
On the face of it, there is no rift between the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste on the direction of Government policy. There is no conflict between Mr Ahern's promises that more will be spent on the poor and tax cuts will benefit the lower paid, and Ms Harney's warning against a "tax and spend" approach. There is every prospect that the Coalition will proceed into a staged election in late 2006 or early 2007.
After seven years in Government, however, there is more to do if this Coalition wants to re-invent itself. Ms Harney suggested that the Government could be made to seem like "a new Government" after the reshuffle. This will happen only if there are more substantive changes in personnel and portfolios.
The Taoiseach has set out to maximise his opportunities with the departure of the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, to Brussels and the retirement of the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Mr Walsh. Changes in these two ministries alone will not take the tired look off a long-serving administration, even in enviable economic times.
Fianna Fáil, in fact, has been floundering for more than two years now, seeking to escape the stereotyping by Sinn Féin and other parties. It has lost all sense of purpose and direction. All the talk in the world, looking left over the right shoulder at Inchydoney, will not change the perception of a tired, old, aimless team. Some action is required to regain the initiative.
The Coalition has been castigated for being a comfortable and complacent Government, out of touch with the lives of ordinary people. That perception remains. What is needed now is a set of practical and visible goals which can be achieved in two years. A plethora of policies, Cabinet sub-committees and consultants' reports will not solve the Government's problems. It is a time for decisions to be made.