ON FEBRUARY 25th a democratic revolution took place in Ireland. Old beliefs, traditions and expectations were blown away. The stroke of a pen, in thousands of polling stations, created this political whirlwind. The public demanded change and looked to parties that would deliver the change they sought.
In that election record numbers of Irish people turned to, and chose, Fine Gael and Labour.
The people chose our two parties to begin mending the pieces of a fractured society, a broken economy and to provide a sense of collective hope in our shared future.
It is no exaggeration to say that we now face one of the darkest hours in the history of our independent State. To deal with this unprecedented national economic emergency, our country needs an unprecedented level of political resolve. What is needed now after a long period of reckless, ill-disciplined Government is strong, resolute leadership.
That is why Fine Gael and Labour, the two largest political parties in the State having achieved historic levels of support in the general election, now seek to use their mandate to form a government for national recovery.
A government that will be built on partnership and parity of esteem between our two parties.
Its key objective will be to repair our society over the next five years and get our people back to work.
We have a secure and stable mandate and we will use it to build a secure and stable government. A government that will restore our country’s finances, will radically reform an outdated system of administration and will rebuild Ireland’s reputation on the international stage.
In doing so, both our parties are committed to protecting the vulnerable and to burden-sharing on an equitable basis. Fianna Fáil presided over an unequal and increasingly divided Ireland. We are both committed to forging a new Ireland that is built on fairness and equal citizenship.
The government for national recovery will strive to ensure that every one of our citizens has an effective right, free from discrimination, to contribute to the economic, social and cultural life of the nation.
Our aim, when our legislative and constitutional changes are implemented, is that Ireland will be a transformed country. By the end of our term in government Ireland will be recognised as a modern, fair, socially inclusive and equal society supported by a productive and prosperous economy.
Both parties approach the task ahead with a combination of humility and hope, underscored with an absolute resolve to bring the change the people so clearly demand.
The new government will seek to match the spirit, courage and pride of the people, so that our country can confidently begin a period of renewal.
But the old ways, the old politics that created the crisis from which we seek to release ourselves from, will not do. Both our parties have long recognised this reality and we campaigned hard and sought and secured a clear mandate to break from the past and start anew.
With this in mind new ways, new approaches and new thinking will form the constant backdrop to the coalition’s style of governance. In all the major areas of public life this determination to modernise, renew and transform our country will be evident over time as our shared programme is implemented.
The government will get our economy moving, restore confidence, fix our banking system and support the protection and creation of jobs. The success of our economic plans will lay the foundation for the rest of our agenda for change.
In parallel, there is a clear need for our political system to embrace change, share the burden and lead by example. Every section of our society is facing hardship. Our political system, if it is to regain credibility and relevance, must change too. Wider than that, our system of government must modernise, adapt to new financial circumstances and start to deliver better services with scarce resources.
The challenge facing the new government is unlike any other. Our economy and our politics have been shattered. But our people’s spirit has not. And that is the spark. The spark that encourages a new government to look to the future with a sense of hope.
A sense of hope that with the right plans, the right people, and with a unified sense of purpose our country can recover.
The government for national recovery faces an historic challenge. The trust of the nation has been invested in it. It is committed to honouring that trust.
At all times it will meet each task guided and informed by some words first spoken by Albert Einstein: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”
The new government has to show too that it has learned from the past.
Our programme reflects the new reality that our politics and our government can, and must, change.
The new government is determined to make each day count as we begin a slow but deliberate renewal of our country.
Our country deserves a fresh start from the failed politics of the years past. It also deserves a new hope that a new government guided by the needs of the many rather than the greed of the few can make a real, positive difference in their lives.
There isn’t a moment to be lost.