Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has delivered an empassioned plea to voters to trust him and his party, insisting that not all politicians are the same.
In his speech to the Fine Gael national convention in Galway, Mr Kenny said the party wanted to reach out to what he called 'the quiet people of Ireland' who work hard and pay their taxes, but who, he said, were suffering under the present Government.
This was Enda Kenny's first speech as leader to a major party conference, and he used it to outline his vision of Fine Gael, which he said was characterised by high purpose and integrity.
Mr Kenny said Fine Gael had taken difficult positions on issues like crime, justice, neutrality, the war on Iraq and benchmarking, outside what he called the cosy consensus'.
He repeated his demand for the renegotiation of benchmarking, which he said would cost every household in the country €1,000 a year for invisible improvements in the public service.
And he called for Ireland to help shape a common EU security and defence policy.
The Fine Gael leader accused the Government of losing control, of speaking one way down the country and voting a different way in the Dáil, and promised to work closely with the Labour Party, particularly with Pat Rabbitte, to persuade the people to vote for a better alternative.
And he called on party members to give every last ounce of energy and commitment to make Fine Gael an inescapable alternative government.
Criticism of consumer rip-offs
Earlier, the conference heard strong criticism of consumer rip-offs, as well as complaints that the Government is doing nothing about it.
Fine Gael Enterprise spokesman Phil Hogan said that consumers had been e-mailing the party stories of rip-offs, such as an Irish van driver quoted €4,000 for insurance, who was able to get cover for just €90 in Australia.
The Government's health policies were also criticised, with Health spokesperson Olivia Mitchell claiming centralising administration in the new Health Service Executive was a return to Soviet-style central control, which would bring new inefficiencies.
And she said plans to close A& E departments in the majority of hospitals should be 'shredded' permanently.
Guest speaker Maurice Neligan, a leading heart surgeon, told the conference there had been endless reports on health but for all that happened, 'they might as well have been written by Hans Christian Andersen'.
