In the past two months, Labour has embraced reductions in income tax, the Progressive Democrats have pledged to increase pensions and, to top all that, Fianna Fail has merged the words 'austerity' and 'auction'.

For months, Fianna Fail talked about prudence.

Then last weekend, without preparing the ground with his own supporters or with the public, Bertie Ahern presented his multi-billion euro plan for the next five years. Tight-fisted Bertie transformed into Bonanza Bertie.

This confused message can be found in an Easter message advert that Ahern has taken out in a freesheet distributed in his Dublin Central constituency. "My pledge is that Fianna Fail's promises will be prudent, " Ahern declares. The advert was obviously placed before last weekend's U-turn.

As Fine Gael gathered for its pre-election ard fheis at Citywest in Dublin this weekend, it was obvious that Ahern had left room for Enda Kenny to reopen arguments about the unfulfilled promises of the past decade. If the voters are to believe Ahern's new promises then it is only fair to analyse his record of delivering on previous ones. Last night Kenny talked as much about the recent past as he did about the future. "We stand in the wreckage of broken promises, " he declared.

The ard fheis speech was Kenny's final big pitch for the top political job in the land. Addressing his party members, the Mayo man made several personal references, including telling the story of his grandfather, James McGinley, who was a lighthouse keeper off the west coast. "He kept his contract and he used it to look out for people, to bring them home safely, " Kenny said, as he asked the public to make a similar contract of trust with him by putting Fine Gael into government.

The Fine Gael leader has only a few weeks left to convince the electorate he can be a successful taoiseach, but with a helping hand from Bertie Ahern last weekend he might have a little more room than he had before.