Fianna Fáil's responsibility today is to ensure that every citizen, regardless of class, colour or creed can live in freedom and prosperity, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has declared.
Speaking at a celebration of Fianna Fáil's 80th anniversary in the Mansion House in Dublin, Mr Ahern pledged: "This will be Fianna Fail's guiding principle in the years ahead."
He added: "It is our responsibility to nurture the political idealism and constitutional republican philosophy that generations of Fianna Fáil members have developed over the past 80 years."
In a tribute to former taoiseach, Charles Haughey, Mr Ahern said the State owes much "of its present prosperity to the courageous decisions taken in 1987 and 1988 by Mr Haughey and his government, and, in particular, the [ former] minister for finance, Ray MacSharry.
"From this gathering, I want to extend our warm regards and good wishes to Charlie and his family," Mr Ahern told hundreds of party supporters gathered in the Mansion House's Rotunda room.
Facing questions from journalists earlier, Mr Ahern said he believed that the decision "to cut back the budget in real terms" in 1987 and 1988 when the State was in "a very tough position" led to the economy's recovery and subsequent success.
Questioned about Fianna Fáil's attitude to business Mr Ahern said it had had to reflect the changing times: "The party had to create business because in the early days we didn't have business. Fianna Fáil's record of achievement is a source of pride in the past and a foundation for success in the future."
However, Mr Ahern was irked when he faced repeated questions from another newspaper about Mr Haughey's acceptance of payments from wealthy businessmen.
"You're definitely the number one anti-Fianna Fáil person. I read your article where you went through 50 pages and you managed to get one bad line," he told the reporter.
"I've already said that I have said all of the hard things about Charlie Haughey and I'm not going to give you the one negative line that you want because you'll find them anyway," he said.
He added that Seán Lemass, who retired as taoiseach 40 years ago and died 35 years ago, transformed the State economically, developing native industry and laying the foundations for subsequent prosperity: "Lemass was a pragmatic patriot who always linked the quest for sovereignty to economic and social improvements."
Lemass's great objective was to secure the economic foundation of independence: "[ we] should rightfully take great pride in his achievements as the architect of the modernisation of the Irish economy. His governments laid some of the key building blocks to our economic development, such as the move towards free education and the internationalisation of the economy through foreign direct investment," he said.
However, Mr Ahern issued a warning that current economic prosperity cannot be taken for granted: "The progress we have made is clear. However, Ireland's prosperity today is no accident; nor should it be taken for granted.
"Our economic success story came about, not as a result of government taking a back seat and allowing market forces to randomly mould society, but instead because an active government has taken the wheel, has made tough choices when needed, and because we have earned the support of the people at the ballot box.
"In less than a generation, Ireland has moved from subsistence to prosperity. Internationally, we have moved from basket-case to exemplar. In Europe, we are shaping and leading the economic debate. At home, in our communities, prosperity is driving change," he said, pointing to improvements made in recent years to child benefit payments, services for the elderly and the less well-off.
