McDowell warns against 'slump coalition'
Tánaiste and Progressive Democrat leader Michael McDowell tonight warned voters about the dangers of voting for a so-called 'slump coalition'.
In his first party conference as PD leader, Mr McDowell warned a Government made up of three parties with differing agendas would be bad for the country, and urged the electorate not to let it happen.
"If Ireland sleepwalks into electing a Dáil in which the balance of power is held by an incoherent patchwork of incompatible parties, that Dáil will end up with a makeshift, confused and fragmented Government," he said.
"If Ireland elects a Dáil with no clear mandate for prosperity and success, Ireland will sleepwalk into a slump."
The conference themed: "New Ireland. New Opportunities" was being held in Wexford in a bid to boost the election hopes of local candidate Colm O'Gorman.
After noting the flaws in a coalition of Labour, Fine Gael and the Greens Mr McDowell turned to Sinn Féin.
Borrowing a notorious phrase from republican leader Gerry Adams, Mr McDowell warned that it was the PDs who kept the provisional movement out of Government and would continue to keep them in check.
"If it hadn't been for this party and the line we took in confronting the provos, they might have very well succeeded in entering the political mainstream while still engaged in organised crime," he said.
"The St Andrew's Agreement to bring about the final implementation of the Good Friday Agreement simply could not have occurred if we had not stood firmly for the rule of law.
"We stood by the Republic. We stand by the Republic. And I would say this to anyone who wants an each-way bet on democratic politics and organised crime: 'We haven't gone away you know'."
The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice stressed the need to crack down on gangland criminality.
Even though he has been criticised for restricting the rights of suspects when under arrest in new proposals for the criminal justice system, Mr McDowell insisted he would push ahead with them, saying that victims and their families have rights as well.
Mr McDowell stressed the importance of keeping the economy growing, but warned that it did not have to be at the expense of the economy.
"A difference between us and some other parties is that we have always seen our economy and our ecology as allies, not as enemies," the Tánaiste said.
"We have always understood that developing and growing societies are in a far better position to deal with environmental sustainability than recession-ridden countries."
"If we call a halt to our motorway programme we condemn Ireland to an economic recession, as inward investment, tourism and business will fall farther and farther behind.
"Some people are now saying stop the roads programme. Nothing could be more wrong. Nothing could be more wrong for Ireland."
The PDs will tomorrow discuss plans for major tax reform, local and central government, pension increases, childcare and urban renewal.
Mr McDowell also praised former PD leader Mary Harney describing her as Europe's most successful employment minister ever.
