PARTY LEADERS:ON THE 90th anniversary of the First Dáil, Taoiseach Brian Cowen appealed to everybody in the country to show solidarity in sharing the burden imposed by the current economic crisis.
Mr Cowen said the next few years would be very difficult and he forecast that the economic turmoil facing the whole world would touch many lives in Ireland.
“The scale of the adjustments now required represent a major political, economic and social challenge for every single person in this country. Everybody in this country will be affected and everybody will have to play their part in overcoming the challenge.”
Speaking at a special meeting of the Dáil and Seanad at the Mansion House in Dublin, Mr Cowen said that the full burden of adjustments must not be allowed to fall on those who lost their jobs.
“Those who are in employment, whether in the private or the public sector, will also share the burden. A particular responsibility lies on those who have benefited most from the rapid growth of the economy over recent years, whether as investors, self-employed or employees. They are being asked to show solidarity with those who are less well off.”
Mr Cowen said solidarity was the assurance that the Ireland of the future, beyond the current turmoil, would be worthy of the sacrifices which were required now and of the vision which inspired members of the First Dáil.
“For my part, I will lead the Government and ensure that we shoulder our democratic responsibility. We will take action to ensure that this country has a future by making the necessary decisions, but we will do our best to be fair.”
The Taoiseach insisted that membership of the European Union gave life to the aspirations of the First Dáil and allowed Ireland to play a significant role in international affairs.
“Those who oppose every development of the European Union are unmoved by fact, experience or progress,” he said.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said the First Dáil insisted on full and total accountability by government for its actions, particularly in regard to how the people’s money was spent.
“It would be good to recount that this principle of Dáil supremacy found its way into the life of the new State. Sadly it did not,” said Mr Kenny.
“We celebrate this anniversary at a time in the life of our country which is as unhappy and dangerous as any we have known. But if one thing is clear at this time it is that we need a Dáil as envisaged by the men and women of 1919 – a Dáil which is at the centre of our politics, not one at the periphery of events, a Dáil to which the Government and all its agencies are openly accountable and most of all a Dáil which leads events rather than reacting to them.”
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore recalled the contribution of his party to the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil and said it was both a reproach and an inspiration to today’s generation.
Mr Gilmore said that even before the present economic difficulties the country had not vindicated what the programme called “the right of every citizen to an adequate share of the produce of the Nation’s labour”.
He said that a week in which a small number of greedy individuals had brought economic havoc to the country they could reflect on the statement “that it is the duty of every man and woman to give service”.
Green Party leader John Gormley said extraordinary times required extraordinary measures and it was time for this generation of political leaders to reflect on what was best for the country and put aside some of their political differences.
“Let us be open to the possibilities of change and wise enough to know that the economic circumstances will not change miraculously regardless of who is in power.”
He acknowledged the contribution of Labour leader Tom Johnson to national independence, the contribution of Sinn Féin to the peace process and of Des O’Malley for standing by the Republic.
“We salute Alan Dukes, the Fine Gael leader whose Tallaght strategy brought us through an economic crisis,” added Mr Gormley, who also recalled the modernising influence of Seán Lemass and Jack Lynch.
Sinn Féin Dáil leader Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said the work of the First Dáil remained unfinished and insisted there was a mandate to bring about a united Ireland.