Speaking on a motion at the PD annual conference proposing that his party enter an election pact with Fianna Fail, McDowell suggested that if Sinn Fein got between 8% and 10% of the vote in the next election, and translated that into seats, they would win between 11 and 16 places in the next Dail.

Therefore, he said, the next election would not be the two-horse race between the Fianna Fail-Progressive Democrat coalition and a Rainbow alternative which has been widely suggested.

As well as building up Sinn Fein's chances in the next election, McDowell poured scorn on the proposed Rainbow Coalition.

He said that nobody believed that an FG-Labour alliance could win a majority of seats unless it was supported by the hard left deputies in Dail Eireann.

That my friends, is a slump coalition."

Despite his analysis, he said he favoured the party going into the election on its own without signing up to any pact with Fianna Fail.

Earlier, PD leader Mary Harney had responded to stinging criticism of Fianna Fail from financial 'guru' Eddie Hobbs, who claimed that the PDs' coalition partners had failed to take on vested interests in the lifetime of the current government.

At the party's dinner on Friday night, Hobbs had referred to failed leadership" in the government in terms of taking on vested interests, mentioning the pharmacy sector as one example. However, Harney rejected the notion that the current administration had failed in this regard.

We took on tax reform and we reformed taxis, and I'm bringing in changes in the pharmacy sector, " she said.

McDowell told the 600 delegates that the Progressive Democrats would have to increase its core support from its current base of 4% to between 5% and 10% in the coming year.

Also speaking against the motion to form an electoral pact, Liz O'Donnell said she believed that the Progressive Democrats did best when articulating a unique, distinctive voice in Irish politics. My view is that we should fight the election campaign with our own clearly defined policies, " she said.

The motion was overwhelmingly defeated.