Mr John Bruton formally put Fine Gael on alert for a general election, which he believes he has a realistic chance of winning, at the party's 70th ardfheis in Dublin at the weekend.
The timing of that election against the backdrop of the scandals being investigated by the two sitting tribunals - rather than any major shift in Fine Gael policy - was the dominant theme of discussion by more than 2,000 delegates in the RDS.
Mr Bruton made maximum use of the Progressive Democrats' discomfiture with the tribunal disclosures and Fianna Fail's effort to accommodate the torrent of allegations when he told delegates on Saturday night: "You know, we thought it had gone away. But sadly, it is not."
Using the GUBU analogy to the full, he said that it was grotesque to discover that a former Taoiseach was in hock to a small number of wealthy private benefactors. It was unbelievable to think that even the most cunning or devious colleagues of such a former Taoiseach could remain blissfully unaware of virtually everything that went on at that time.
"It is absolutely bizarre to see a former minister, and this country's key ambassador in Europe, talk loosely on The Late Late Show, and then refuse to answer even the simplest of questions. But sadly, friends, as we know, it is not unprecedented," he said.
Believing that all previous opinion polls will be proved wrong if the Government falls apart, the Fine Gael leader said they were facing a Government "that is in tatters". It was a Coalition where trust had evaporated. "Mary Harney must by now realise that every time a new query blows up about Fianna Fail and money, she is going to find out something new about the Taoiseach, something new he has not told her, something new he would like to hide," he continued.
Saying that Ms Harney had the courage once before to walk away from Mr Haughey and Fianna Fail, Mr Bruton added: "Bertie Ahern never took that sort of courageous stand. He always stayed on the Haughey team, close to the boss. Now he is paying the price."
In an attempt to define what he called "a new patriotism" for Ireland, Mr Bruton asserted that the present Government could never provide genuinely accountable politics. "Accountability means having an identifiable individual who is willing to take the blame if something goes wrong and entitled to take the credit if things go right. In this Government, nobody is willing to take the blame. No one is even willing to ask the hard questions," he said.
Claiming that the Government was sinking slowly "in a sea of denial and amnesia", Mr Bruton concentrated on four Fine Gael policy areas in his leader's address: traffic, housing, childcare and health.
He announced two policy initiatives which would be pursued by Fine Gael in government. The limit on mortgage tax relief granted to a borrower would be increased for each person, child or adult, who was being housed through that mortgage. The extra mortgage tax relief for children would help the families for whom mortgages and childcare created a heavy burden.
He also proposed that child benefit for children under five should be increased by £12 to £20 a week. This will cost £316 million a year, he said.
The whole thrust of the ardfheis, however, was about creating a new patriotism of public service, rather than self-service, in the run-up to a general election this year.
