THERE has been a coming of age in Ireland. A whole generation of young people has grown up in the last few years. They are the modern Ireland. The new Ireland. And they are different. They are confident, demanding, inquiring.
If promises are made, they expect them to be kept.
I would ask you all to join with me in saluting President Mary Robinson, a president with a purpose.
We were there at the beginning, and we can be proud of that fact. We have never sought to politicise the office of President, and I will not do so now. But we can say this. We helped to hand the office back to the people.
President Robinson drew strength from her mandate. She was beholden to the people, and to no one else.
In so far as I have anything to do with it, there will be an election in November. The people, and only the people, will choose the "next President. We must search for, and find, a candidate who represents what is inclusive about Ireland. A candidate who will make the sort of difference in the next millennium that President Robinson made at the end of this one.
A moment ago, I mentioned another election. I can't guarantee when it will happen, of course - the present Dail still has many months to run. But something in my bones tells me that we ought to be preparing. Indeed, something in the atmosphere of this hall tonight tells me that we are ready!
The election, when it comes, will be about choices, issues, directions. It will not be about personalities - at least, it will not be conducted that way by us.
I don't believe we should indulge ourselves, either tonight or throughout the coming campaign, in attacks on people.
The confidence and optimism that we can all feel has been, in large measure, forged out of the experiences of the last number of years. In a real sense, those years have provided a turning point between despair and, hope.
I sometimes think of a period that I call "the misery years".
Anyone remember them? They stretched from 1989 - 1992, and the government of this country was shared then by Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats.
- In the misery years, the mortgage rate was 12 per cent. Those who couldn't afford a mortgage were forced to join longer and longer local authority housing queues.
- A mother with four children got £71.40 in Child Benefit. Now that same mother is entitled to £18.
- The unemployment figures went up at the rate of 47 every day. Since 1993, they have come down by nearly a third - thanks to the 150,000 jobs created since. And when this year's figures are available, that number will go very close to 200,000.
- Legal aid centres were forced to close even their waiting lists. Now, there are new centres around the country.
- If you were a young single worker you hit the top rate of tax at an income of £205 a week. Now it's £262 per week. A married couple hit the top rate of tax at £389 a week. Now it's £508 a week.
- Capitation rates for primary schools - helping those schools to run on a day to day basis - were frozen. We've increased them by 61 per cent.
- Aid to the developing world was cut each year, down to £40 million. Now it stands at more than £120 million. But £120 million is still only 3 pence out of every £10 of our national wealth. We can - and we must - do more.
- The school building programme at second level was cut by 20 per cent. We've increased it by 60 per cent.
We are going to fight to prevent a return to the misery years.
There is a contrast with those years. Four years ago, people who were unemployed were excluded from social partnership. No more. They played a vital role in the negotiation of Partnership 2000.
- People trapped in broken marriages had no way out. No more. A Labour Minister steered the historic legislation through.
- Drug barons collected wealth and assets with impunity. No more. A Labour Minister established the Criminal Assets Bureau - and it has instilled fear into the hearts of evil people, throughout our community.
- People with disabilities had little voice of their own. No more. We've established a fully funded band independent council.
- Families could not even begin to thinking about sending young people to college, because of crippling third level fees. No more. A Labour Minister has delivered.
- Ireland had to say no to the developing world more than once, because of the deep cuts I've already mentioned. No more.
- Four years ago, water charges were a source of anger to thousands of house holders. No more. A Labour Minister has begun the process of reforming and revitalising local government.
And as part of that process he has ended the imposition of charges that thousands of people found unacceptable. Almost everybody, that is, except the PDs, who think that taxes on wealth and property are evil, but charges for a necessity like water are perfectly OK.
- The very word Sellafield was enough to strike fear all the more so because it seemed there was nothing we could do. No more.
- People with learning difficulties were forced to protest outside the Dail at the closure of facilities. No more.
- Gay people lived in fear of the law. No more. We've removed the stigma and the fear.
- The culture of secrecy was part of our way of life. No more. A Freedom of Information Bill drafted and delivered by a Labour Minister, will revolutionise the way this Republic does its business.
- Ireland's tourism economy was in the doldrums. No more.
- Ireland's overall economy was stagnant. No more. In fact, we can now say this in the middle of the 75th anniversary of the founding of this State.
- Long before we celebrate the 80th anniversary, we will haven passed out the United Kingdom in terms of wealth per capita. Labour Ministers have delivered.
If my colleagues, and the entire parliamentary party, have welded themselves into a team to be proud of we are also part of a partnership of which we can be proud too.
- It is a partnership that works. ,Despite the difficult circumstances in which it was born, this Government has proved to be one of the most cohesive this country has known.
- I will be proud in the general election to share a platform with John Bruton and Prionsias De Rossa. Each of us is regarded as a strong personality, and some of us are even seen (to my surprise!) as having difficulty with compromise I think we must have learned some new skills in the last few years!
In any event, we have succeeded in putting aside old rivalries and tensions. We have built trust among us instead. We have succeeded in concentrating on the needs of our community.
And we have delivered good government, as well as cohesive government. That is why I will be proud to assert my determination to see the government coming back even stronger than it is now. I am often asked what the situation will be if this Government does not succeed in winning enough votes in the election.
I believe that isn't going to happen. I believe we will win. But I have no intention, of refusing to answer the question. I have no wish to be seen to be hiding behind a blind faith in the outcome.
Since the first time I asked this party to support me in Government, back in 1982, I have pledged that it is you, and you alone, who will always make the decision after an election on what our next steps should be.
After this election, whatever the outcome, and if we have enough votes and seats to participate in a Government, I will be asking you to decide whether we should or not.
- But our party constitution assigns responsibility for the well being of the party to its leader. I cannot exercise that responsibility without coming before you on such a crucial issue as participation in government, and making the best recommendation I can in good faith. I want to tell you now how I see it.
I believe we will win. I cannot assert that strongly enough. I want to see this Government campaign for re election, and I want to come before a special conference of this, party after the election and ask for your endorsement for an agreed five year programme to guide us.
I want to see each of the parties campaign in such a way as to maximise the votes we get, and transfer to one another. But when it is over, and the votes are counted, I cannot be blind to the possibility - unlikely as I might think it is - that neither the Government nor the opposition will have enough seats.
In the event of an unclear out come to the election, the potential combinations to form a Government are numerous. For example Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Fianna Fail, the PDs, and whatever sympathetic Independents they can find. The present Government, parties with the Greens.
In other words, the responsibility would not be Labour's alone - however the commentators might care to paint it. And a number of the possible combinations would exclude Labour.
The bottom line will be that 166 deputies have the responsibility of ensuring that Ireland has effective, government, and strong constructive opposition. We will have to make our decisions against that, background.
For me, there is another bottom line. Labour has no interest in being any other party's mudguard, or any other party's booster system. We go into Government as equals, on equal terms, or we don't go in at all.
We represent people who need their voices to be heard loudly and clearly by a full party, never again by a half party. ,That's why being "junior partner might be good enough for the PDs, but it's not good enough for us. We don't go into office for its own sake - we go in to get real work done. We go in to make voices heard that otherwise would never be heard.
That's why we will not be part of an each way bet for Fianna Fail - "if we can't have the PDs, sure Labour will be there to make up the numbers" - just as we will never be part of an each way bet, for any other political party.
Instead, we will work as equals with other parties in government, on a basis of mutual respect and trust.
We made a choice in 1994, in the midst of a political crisis - and that choice generated a good government, into which we have made a significant input. Unlike 1992, we are now an integral part of an outgoing government. We are not a campaigning opposition party, but a party of responsible and effective delivery.
I say now, to this conference let us honour the choice we made in 1994. And in the process, let us offer a clear and unequivocal choice to the people.
Centre Left against centre right - nothing could be clearer. And if we are going to make that choice, let's be absolutely committed to it.
And in those circumstances I must tell you this: I will not, in the aftermath of the next general election, come before you and recommend any form of coalition with either of the parties that make up the centre right alternative, the Progressive Democrats or Fianna Fail.
It will be for you to decide. But I will urge you, with all the conviction at my command, that we should go into opposition rather than into government with either of them.
In summary, I am saying that we should rule out a Fianna Fail/Labour government in the aftermath of this election. We have made a choice that works in the best interests of the Irish people. We must honour that choice - and be seen to honour it.
As far as I am concerned the battle that must be fought is between this good Government, on the one hand, and Fianna Fail and the PDs on the other. Centre left against centre right.
Let me say where I stand on the new buzz word of the day - zero tolerance.
I'm for it. I'm for zero tolerance against crime. I'm for zero tolerance against poverty. I'm for zero tolerance against disadvantage and neglect. I'm for zero tolerance against the abolition of necessary and essential services.
But I also think we should all have zero tolerance for humbug and political opportunism, And zero tolerance for any politician - male or female - who offers simplistic solutions to what they know are complex issues. That's why I'm opposed to any policy which sets out to attack crime while, turning its back on the causes.
Especially policies that set out to criminalise young people for minor infringements, and ignore more persistent and serious offenders.
Policies that don't have a sense of proportion built into them from the outset contain the seeds of a police state - and I promise you zero tolerance for any such blinkered approach.
Tony Blair, the leader of our sister party, who is expected to be the next prime minister of Britain, has coined the phrase "tough on, crime, tough on the causes, of crime". Let's not dismiss it as a cliche, because it isn't. It is a recipe for going to the roots.
It may take a little longer; it may need more resources. But unless we go to the roots, everything else we set out to do will yield no long lasting fruit.
That's not to say that we don't need tougher sentences for crimes of violence - we do. We need to make no distinction between the use of a gun or a hypodermic syringe in the commission of a crime.
We need more prison places, and fast track approaches to the courts. We need more forensic facilities. We need to be tough minded about anyone who persistently flouts the law.
And we need more police, and more effective and accountable use of Garda resources. We are recruiting more gardai, and the result will be the strongest complement we have ever had.
Putting more gardai into the community is only part of the solution. Integrating them, building confidence between them and local communities, is critically important.
But above all, the work of community building is what is vital. If crime is rooted in poverty and alienation, then it is equally true that poverty has set down deep roots in many parts of our towns and cities, and indeed in many rural areas.
If it is not possible to get a job because your address is off putting to employers - if it is not possible to build a future because of educational disadvantage - then is it surprising that too many people are vulnerable to exploitation; that too many people turn to crime?
If we don't get serious about communities - and if we are not Just as serious about responsibility then crime will continue to blight lives - the lives of perpetrators, and above all the lives of victims.
And how many lives have been blighted by the collapse of the ceasefire in Northern Ireland, and the resumption of violence? How many hopes have been dashed?
How much have the economic prospects of Northern Ireland - which seemed to take off as soon peace was declared - been set.
Whose cause did IRA thugs think they were serving by causing the cancellation of the Aintree Grand National a week ago?
And when are Sinn Fein going to realise that, no matter what they say, every IRA atrocity leaves an indelible stain on them?
I know that I have been accused in some quarters of being "soft on the Provos". I know that people like David Trimble have preferred to indulge in over the top verbal attacks rather than sit down and do business with his neighbours.
Well, none of that matters. I know - and I believe you know that I have opposed the Provisional IRA all my political life, and I always will. But what is important - far beyond anyone's personal feelings or convictions - is the restoration of peace, and the resumption of normal politics.
From August 1994 until February 1996 we had it in our hands. everyone on this island could see the beginnings of a solution. The biggest difficulty - maybe the only major difficulty - lay in getting everyone around the table.
It remains as true today as it was then, that the only solution that can work is the solution that is owned by everyone, at least in part.
Therefore it remains true that the risk we have to take for peace is the risk of ensuring that everyone is at the table.
We don't have to like each other, or agree with each other. But we have to choose talking over killing. We have to choose inclusion ever exclusion.
That's why I will use all the authority I possess to secure a full and equal place at the negotiating table for Sinn Fein, provided there is a complete and unequivocal ceasefire. The killing must stop. An it must stop forever.
That's why I will use all the authority I possess to ensure that the parties who represent the thinking of loyalist paramilitaries stay at the table, as full and equal partners.
If that makes me soft on the Provos, or soft on terrorism, so be it. Let those who want to attack do so. I only want to talk. But I promise you this - I will sell nobody out - I will take away nobody's birthright. I take seriously what one loyalist said to the in a personal, and passionate, outburst.
He said: "I want you to be Irish, and I want you to be proud of your Irishness just as I'm proud of being British. I would never ask you to give up your Irishness, to make me feel better about being British - and I will never give up my Britishness to make you feel better about being Irish".
There is no solution without quality and fairness. There is no solution without mutual esteem for each other's identity. And there can be no solution through exclusion.
That's why I hope that the British government, whether new or old, is able to take the high road of inclusion - of ensuring that everyone committed to politics is invited to the table when the talks resume. No more preconditions, no more hurdles to be overcome.
We are now an abundant economy, and we must be prepared to, apply that abundance in the interests of all.
Can we really say yet that our abundant economy has given birth to an abundant nation?
For Labour, the sharing of abundance - the building of a nation that is inclusive - is a core value. For us, the substantiation of personal freedom, linked with social responsibility, is the key.
We need to do more than the constitutional recognition of economic and social rights. We need to ensure that increasing prosperity is shared, through combined action at neighbourhood and community level, and through political choices.
One of the choices I would like to put before you is the concept of a "social guarantee" - a promise to each sector of our people that most fittingly accords with their needs, and with the ability of our economy.
When Niamh Bhreathnach became Minister for Education, just cover seven out of every 10 young people completed the Leaving Cert in this country. Now, the figure is 84 per cent, and rising.
I believe we should set ourselves the goal, within the next 10 years, of ensuring that every young person in Ireland secures a second level qualification. It is possible. And remember this - every penny spent on securing that objective would be the most effective penny we could spend on crime prevention too.
Indeed, I believe we can, and should, go further. I believe we should work towards providing a social guarantee for every young person.
The social guarantee should be this - that no young person should be obliged to sign on the dole until at least the age of 21. There should be a range of choices open to them to prevent it, ranging from further education, training, with a guarantee of work or work experience as an alternative.
Of course, such a social guarantee would carry responsibilities with it. Provided - and only provided - there was an adequate range of choices open to young people on leaving school, we would be entitled to expect that they would begin to exercise them.
There would be no room for those who would rather steal cars and draw the dole no sympathy for those who choose to opt out.
And I believe we should go further still. The mother whose child is diagnosed with a permanent disability should be guaranteed - and I mean guaranteed - that from that moment on, a range of services is available to her and to her child. The elderly person who comes out of hospital, in need of recuperation and recovery - perhaps in need of help or care at "home - should not have to discover at that moment in her life that there is no service available as of right.
We need to develop the concept of a social guarantee further. And only a centre left government would do it. These are not concepts that a PD style government would understand, of course. How can you accept the notion of a social guarantee when you have as much difficulty as they have with the concept of society itself?