THE PDs hold their first conference since the June 1997 general election - which was a disaster in terms of seats but returned them to government - in Galway in two weeks. As the current coalition nears its midway point, party leader Mary Harney will be listing achievements to date and targets for the future during her 30-minute address, which will be televised live on RTE on the Saturday evening. She will spell out her belief that Ireland must make its own decisions on tax and the economy, notwithstanding membership of EMU, and her concern that Europe may become anti-competition because of over-regulation and the demands of some nations for increased taxes. Taxation, she says, is a matter for national government, not for Europe.
The party will also be unveiling a new policy approach with a greater emphasis on the liberal philosophy of more competition, self-reliance, and technological education for the jobs of the future, and an increase in choice and freedom. The PDs believe asylum-seekers should be able to work and would not countenance the suggestion that the children of asylum-seekers should be denied education. The conference, at the Galway Bay Hotel, Salthill, is the first for new general secretary John Higgins, who is more used to Fine Gael Ard Fheiseanna. He expects about 700 delegates.