THE Programme for National Recovery (PNR) was the document that set down a strategy to drag the economy out of more than a decade of paralysis. Thankfully, that era of high everything - unemployment, inflation and interest rates - is now a distant memory. Last year, the social partners agreed Towards 2016, the latest successor to the PNR.

The contrast with 1987 was clearly evident in that document and will be even clearer on Tuesday when Brian Cowen unveils the new national development plan, Transforming Ireland: A Better Quality of Life for All.

Unlike previous national plans, which involved significant EU Structural Funds, Transforming Ireland will be funded almost exclusively out of the government's own resources. The 300-page document, which sets out ambitious plans from now until 2013, is divided into five areas - economic infrastructure, enterprise and innovation, human capital, social infrastructure and social inclusion.

Overall, the spending involved will top Euro180bn over the next seven years. Expenditure on capital projects has increased significantly since 1997 - facilitated by the booming economy - with Cowen set to commit to average infrastructure investment equivalent to about 5.5% of GNP. With huge pension and health demands in the coming decades from an ageing population, now may well be the time to give our booming economy truly modern transport, education and health facilities. Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Tánaiste Michael McDowell will be on hand at the Dublin Castle event. But all eyes will be on Cowen. The life of the plan stretches beyond the end of the Ahern leadership in Fianna Fáil. Cowen is the favourite to succeed Ahern, and Transforming Ireland may allow us an opportunity to see what type of vision the Laois-Offaly politician will project.

Winds of change from Rabbitte as his candidate faces winds and changing AFTER a week when 'no' appeared to mean 'maybe', Pat Rabbitte headed to Kerry this weekend for some respite from his coalition dilemma. The Labour leader was in Tralee canvassing with Terry O'Brien, the party's new candidate in Kerry North.

The constituency was represented for so long by Dick Spring and his late father, Dan. Spring should never have been beaten in 2002 and now the former Labour leader is backing O'Brien, who won 2,400 votes at the last local elections. O'Brien will poll well in Tralee, and if he can get decent support elsewhere in the constituency, he might just put pressure on either Martin Ferris of Sinn Féin - who beat Spring in 2002 - or the sole Fianna Fáil seat.

Yesterday, Rabbitte made his introductions to the new arrivals to the O'Brien household - Mark and Milly, who were born last week. The twins won't be voting on election day but the photographs might be worth a whole lot more to their politician father.

MICHAEL Lowry was transport minister in January 1996 when the idea for a second airport in Dublin was rejected by the then Fine Gael-Labour-DL coalition.

"Two airports for Dublin would duplicate infrastructure and facilities, " Lowry said in a statement, killing off Tony Ryan's proposal.

The businessman wanted to develop Baldonnel as a second commercial airport for the Dublin region. Enda Kenny was party to the cabinet decision in 1996, but he now favours a second airport in Dublin. What's more interesting than Kenny's new position, however, is the lack of ambition evident in Lowry's assessment of Ryan's proposal.

Lowry's decision - and that of his Rainbow coalition cabinet colleagues - was taken just as the boom started to breathe life into the Irish economy. "Given the short overland distances between airports, the relatively small size of Ireland and low population base, it is proving difficult for many [existing] airports to attract the level of air services needed to ensure commercial viability. The addition of another airport would put further pressure on some of these airports to survive, " Lowry concluded.

Fine Gael members talk down the poll as they slide down the polls POLITICIANS always talk down opinion polls results which bring them bad news. Last autumn, a Lansdowne Market Research survey was dismissed as a "rogue poll" by the Labour Party even when the results were in line with the findings of a IMS/Millward Brown poll published by this newspaper a few weeks earlier. There were more mutterings last week about the latest IMS poll, along the lines that FF was overstated and FG understated in the results.

Yet, in all pre-election national polls since 1977, IMS has been within a shout of the actual result, having had FG's vote either spot-on or within one percentage point of its actual result in seven out of nine contests. Like other polling companies, IMS's results overestimated FF in 2002 while underestimating FG. Since then - in meeting with international best practice - adjustments have been made to account for respondents who claim to support FF at FG's expense. The poll's answers all point in the same direction for FG, even among FG's own supporters. There is less satisfaction with the FG leader and party than among other parties.