Kenny sets agenda for end to 'quick-fix' politics

Leader's address (edited): "Power. And influence. They're the words most often used to describe what politics is all about

Leader's address (edited): "Power. And influence. They're the words most often used to describe what politics is all about. But after 28 years in politics, I believe they come behind something even more important. Trust.

"Trust. . . where politics begins and ends. So, when I ask for public trust, I don't do it lightly. Because when I ask it, I know that I'm asking for everything. But it's vital, if I'm to achieve my goal.

"I want to recreate politics in Ireland. I want to rescue it from the mire of lowest common denominator and the curse of the quick-fix.

"I want to restore politics in the public heart and imagination as a real entity.

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"A real entity with real values. That works for real people. That can make real change. Change their lives, their communities, their future, this country.

"People are paying dear for a politics based on rank expediency and self-serving pragmatism.

"They're worrying about the soaring cost of living. They're incensed by thugs who having asserted their legal rights, give their victory-salute in 'fingers' to the nation.

"They're queuing up in our dilapidated hospitals, wondering how long more they'll have to wait to get on a waiting list. They're sending their children off to school in community halls, in clapped-out prefabs, even in funeral homes.

"But tonight, I want them to think again. I'm looking for their confidence. Their hope. Their trust.

"And, I do it because I have a clear conscience, respect for our people and ideas about what I want to do for Ireland. Starting with putting it first.

"And since becoming leader of FG, that's exactly what I've done. Putting Ireland first meant taking difficult positions on crime, justice, neutrality, the war on Iraq and benchmarking. It's a duty thing.

"On benchmarking, we stood outside the cosy consensus and stood up for the hard-working taxpayers. And, we put Ireland first on the Nice Treaty referendum. We refused to play politics with our future.

"We must live up to our international responsibilities. We must tell the truth on our neutrality. Because, like it or not, Ireland is no longer neutral. We are merely unaligned. And it's time the Government came clean and gave the country the debate it deserves.

"Fine Gael believes in fair and peaceful settlement of conflict. The results of this week's Assembly elections expose a worrying polarisation of the communities.

"A rift which can healed only through the co-operation and power-sharing provided for by the agreement itself.

"I acknowledge the new reality presented by these elections. But I say to Dr Paisley and his colleagues in the DUP - I recognise your mandate, but you too must accept that over 70 per cent of the Northern Ireland electorate voted for pro-agreement parties.

"And their wish for the process to continue, and be completed, must be respected.

"Have you ever seen a Government spend so much to achieve so little? But what have they done with your money? What have you get for your trust? You got the disaster of Luas and the Port Tunnel. Where are the 2,000 extra gardaí. Where are the 50,000 new medical cards?

"What have you got on housing and hospital waiting lists. And what about the 300,000 Irish people hanging-on below the poverty line.

"You got streets that are unsafe at any hour of the day or night.

"And thanks to the Government you got organised crime threatening our democracy and our State.

"Make no mistake, this is the biggest threat to our democracy since the murder of Veronica Guerin.

"And what have you got from the Government on the economy? You got competitiveness that's plummeting and a cost of living that's rocketing. This Government has lost control. There's no-one in charge. They hang on by Charlie McCreevy's dictum: What we have, we hold. Only the we was the Government. Not the country.

"Not the people of Ballinasloe, or Ennis, or Nenagh, or Mullingar, or Castlebar, or Killarney, or Monaghan and Roscommon who are all set to lose the vital health facilities they hold.

"That's not my kind of government. That's not my Ireland. And it need not be yours. But changing it depends on the vast, the silent majority.

"If these people are not to give up, we must get them to see that the change they're yearning for does not rest first with us. But with them. It rests in the most powerful agent of change that any democrat holds: their vote.

"And when they're deciding how to vote, I want them to be able to say 'no actually, politicians are not all the same. Fine Gael is different'.

"They know something about courage, duty, truth. And they show it in what they do. They put sanity over vanity. They put the national interest over vested interest. And always and ever, they put the good of country over their own.

"We do it because we believe in Ireland. We believe in the rights and the responsibilities of all who live here, the governed and the government alike.

"I want to give the young generation an Ireland with the family, in all its modern forms, firmly at its heart. Today, the family is under siege. Irish parents face the double-whammy of living in the most expensive country in Europe, with the worst possible childcare. And, it's getting worse. Because today in Ireland, 30 per cent of income goes on childcare - a baby mortgage - while in the rest of Europe it's closer to 8 per cent. For the sake of society, I want to end the forced labour of many parents in the workforce. If a mother or father decides to stay at home to rear the next generation, the State should support them in their choice, not punish them in their pocket.

"We want an Ireland where we are encouraged to take greater responsibility for our health. Where our health system is centred around the person, the patient, and not paperwork. The consumer not the provider must come first.

"I want an Ireland with not just plenty of law, but plenty of order. Fine Gael is the party of law and order. And, our absence from Government is being felt on Ireland's streets.

"And, for society's sake, we must stop the erosion of the people from the land. We must rebuild communities - real communities - rural and urban.

"Therefore we must have planning that's led by the government, in tandem with the community, not by the developers. And I want a first-class education as a basic civil right, not the random privilege of parenting or class. That way, by 2020, we'll have corrected the gross educational injustice where one in five people - one in five - cannot read or write.

"And I want an Ireland where our people can look forward to a safe old age with their own people in their own place. I want to end the social isolation of our older people, where thousands of them live lives of desperate, unbroken stunning silence.

"We can start by remembering that we, and any government, hold that office in trust. For the benefit of future generations.

"So, how will we create our Ireland? Well, we'll start with the kind of planning that goes way beyond the next general election, all the way to the next generation. We'll invest in an economy based not on the easy habits of the past, but on the technology and ideas of the future, on creativity and brain-power, on high-end activities like research-and-development and patenting. We'll encourage the risk taker and reward the entrepreneur.

"We'll have safer streets because our policing will be directed and targeted, where goals are set, performance measured and results - publicly verifiable results - are achieved.

"We will give Ireland an open government that welcomes public scrutiny, a government they can be proud of and most of all, a government they can trust.

"This Government has debased the concept of public service that Michael Collins stood for, they've given politics and governance, a bad name, and has failed, and spectacularly so, the people who elected it.

"They speak one way down the country and vote a different way in the Dáil. They won't answer questions, don't tell the truth and cronyism is alive and well. But Ireland is yearning for change. The electorate is desperately demanding analternative.

"And they'll be glad that there are parties who want to provide it. That there are others who share Fine Gael's commitment to the democratic process. Particularly the Labour Party. I will work closely with Pat Rabbitte and other like-minded colleagues to persuade the people to use their vote, not just for change, but for a better alternative. That they can have a government who will be prepared to act like one. To take charge and get this country right. It is our job, colleagues, to provide that alternative. And we will. Because we are not beholden to any individual or corporation. We're bought by no-one. Our only vested interest is the public interest.

"Earlier this year, I told you we were in a battle for the very soul of politics in this country. That's the reality we face.

"It's not just about opinion polls or elections. It's about restoring public trust and integrity.

"It's about installing competent management at the top of this nation. Fine Gael must present the people with the choice they haven't had, the change they yearn for, the alternative they demand.

"Fine Gael must restore an Ireland that values the individual in more than words, that cares for its people in more than promises.

"This must be an Ireland of standards and safety, an Ireland of heroes, hopes and dreams, an Ireland of diversity and deep tradition.

"Our children must grow up in an Ireland filled with opportunity and possibility, creativity and innovation. An Ireland with a strong, influential voice on the issues that we have made our own.

"If you tell me that's unrealistic, I'll tell you that Fine Gael can stand for nothing less, aim at nothing lower.

"After the last election I made a simple promise. That, no matter what it took, I would give every last ounce of energy and commitment I had to rebuild the Fine Gael party that has been my life.

"Tonight, I want the same promise from you. That you will give every last ounce of energy and commitment you have, that you will take whatever punishment and pain it requires, to get Fine Gael back to where it must be: a powerful, competent, inescapable alternative government.

"Because we are the party of integrity, of passion, of overarching vision.

"My friends - let us prove to the nation that Fine Gael - and only Fine Gael - can restore public trust. Fine Gael - a party of high purpose - believes in a cause greater than any one of us.

"That cause is the restoration of competence and creativity, of drive and decency. A big cause - a crucial task.

"But because we believe in each other we can do it. We can and we will prove to the nation that Fine Gael is the answer.

"Let's go and do it."