The President has urged politicians to seize the opportunity to write a chapter of Irish history to create a socially inclusive Ireland that welcomed immigrants and enjoyed lasting peace.
Mrs McAleese was enthusiastically applauded by a packed Dail chamber yesterday after an address in which she said politicians would now make the choices that would determine the kind of Ireland we handed on to future generations.
She reminded her audience of the often grim history from which modern Ireland had come, and of the future challenges to be faced. She had been invited by the Millennium Committee to exercise her constitutional right to address the joint houses of the Oireachtas to mark the occasion.
As well as TDs and senators, civil and religious leaders, members of the judiciary and the diplomatic corps, the invited guests included Mr Gerry Adams.
The President said this was the first generation that had the power to eradicate poverty, that could build and consolidate peace on the island and could show that it was truly welcoming to foreigners. However, she warned against allowing "selfish materialism" and inequality to prevail in our newly prosperous society.
She hailed the transformation of the economy, the reversal of the tide of emigration and the bringing of peace to Northern Ireland. "Today where the name of Ireland is spoken, the word success is close behind", she said.
However she warned that success had brought new challenges. On immigration she said: "We are the first generation to be seriously tested on the bona fides of our legendary hospitality, our Cead Mile Failte."
The Dail party leaders echoed several of Mrs McAleese's themes when they made Dail statements later on the occasion of the last Oireachtas sitting of the millennium. The Taoiseach said the coming year of the Jubilee of Christ's birth "provides an opportunity for reflection on where we are as a people, especially in the light of the teaching of the Christian faith". The Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, questioned whether quality of life was rising as fast as GNP, while the Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, spoke of "a growing spiritual impoverishment" at a time of increasing material prosperity.
Referring to political scandals of recent years, the President warned that the culture of "righteous accountability" and scepticism currently prevalent could feed cynicism about politics and undermine confidence in the political process.
The Taoiseach also acknowledged the need to build faith in politics and public life.