All parties dance to Bertie's signature tune of avoiding conflict at all costs

The battle lines are supposed to be drawn on the first day of an election campaign, and sure enough, in their choice of theme song, Fianna Fáil were straight into the trenches. But the opening skirmishes were marred by an outbreak of non-violence among the main parties, which at times threatened to degenerate into affection.

The Fianna Fáil song, Altogether Now by The Farm, was inspired by the first World War, which explains its politically risky chorus of "Altogether now/In no man's land." Overall, however, the lyrics are a denunciation of conflict. As such, they sum up the philosophy of Bertie Ahern, whose conflict-avoidance techniques often threatened to bring down the Opposition. Predictably, he continued the tactic at Fianna Fáil's manifesto launch, where he was ruthlessly polite about his enemies.

Retaliation was inevitable and, at a viciously civil Fine Gael press conference, Michael Noonan described the Taoiseach as a "nice guy". Admittedly, he said it in the context of questioning Fianna Fáil's promotion of Mr Ahern's personality at the expense of policies. But he maintained a studiously gentle tone throughout, as he spoke about Ireland's need for "spirituality" and questioned the Government's materialism.

Clearly, Mr Noonan will fight this campaign as a latter-day Mahatma Gandhi, drawing on the ancient wisdom of the east (Limerick East) in a cunning attempt to defeat Mr Ahern at his own game.

Labour introduced some confrontation when, wearing roses in their lapels and with more roses scattered around them, the leadership appeared before a rose-coloured backdrop to denounce Fianna Fáil's big idea -a development finance agency - as a "con".

Dermot Ahern was "lying" about Labour policies, they added, and Charlie McCreevy was just "lying low". They then boarded a bus for a visit to Moore Street, possibly to offload the roses.

Mutual respect aside, the campaigns of the two biggest parties were taking shape yesterday. After his curiously late statement in the Dáil on Wednesday, as much a surprise as Roy Keane's near-simultaneous return from injury to televised football, Mr Ahern was back on top of his game. Fit, confident and word-perfect, he looked like he'd spent the night in Manchester United's oxygen-therapy cylinder. And in keeping with the party's election strategy, his defence of the Government's competence was a one-man show.

Michael Noonan, meanwhile, remained mired in low poll ratings, but was looking at the stars. His quiet message was that the electorate had a choice in the kind of society it wants, and it may be "the last chance for a generation" to choose the social justice model. The campaign continues today, when it may again fail to turn ugly.