Kenny aims to rally Fine Gael faithful at Ard Fheis

The Fine Gael Ard Fheis begins tonight, with the party desperate to find a way to capitalise on recent popularity slips in Fianna Fail ahead of the forthcoming local and European elections.

With their ratings hovering around the 22 per cent mark, Fine Gael will need to find a new gear to realistically mount a challenge to the Government and halt the slide that began before the 2002 General Election.

A recent newspaper opinion poll showing 61 per cent of the electorate would like to see a FG, Labour and Green Party "caring" coalition in power will be encouraging.

In his welcome address this evening, party leader Mr Enda Kenny, is expected to highlight the recent successes acheived by his party working closely with Labour and the Greens. The three parties have been scheming together to co-ordinate their attacks against the Government.

Mr Kenny will also encourage Fine Gael voters to give their second preferences to candidates from their coalition partners.

The party hopes up to 5,000 delegates will attend over the course of the conference in Dublin's Citywest complex.

The delegates will tonight hold a  debate on justice and drugs, chaired by Senator Brian Hayes.

Among the motions to be debated are those calling for the  use of electronic monitoring as an alternative to prison; an extension to the use of the Drug Court; a condemnation of the continued paramilitarism of the Provisional IRA and a call for Sinn Fein to disband the organisation.

Delegates will also debate motions about the "inconsistency of sentences" and calls for the Government to ensure that the Criminal Justice Act 1999 in enforced and mandatory ten-year sentences for drug trafficking are applied without exception.

Tomorrow, debates on Irish foreign affairs policy and environmental issues will be televised on RTE. Other subjects to be debated include rights for the disabled, support for  the victims of terrorism, the reform of the Irish pub industry and the state of the national health and education  services.

Mr Kenny's leader's speech tomorrow night will be broadcast live on the internet, a first for any Irish political party.

The Mayo TD, who took the reins after the resignation of Mr Michael Noonan in the wake of the general election disaster, will be anxious to rally the troops for the seven-week campaign before the elections on June 11th.

In his first performance as party leader, Mr Kenny told a conference in Galway last December, he intended to restore public trust in politics and to make Fine Gael the nucleus of an alternative coalition government.