Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has pledged that Fianna Fáil will build a peace monument "in the Border region" if it is returned to power. Mr Ahern said that the Government would commission a major international competition to design and construct a "landmark" monument.
"This monument will stand as a symbol of the achievements of all communities and individuals who have worked so hard to deliver peace these past decades," he added.
"It will send out a clear message to the coming generations - that the peace we have built is to be cherished. It should never be taken for granted."
Mr Ahern said the Government was allocating €5 million to the project, which would allow designers to propose projects on the same scale as the Spire of Dublin or the Angel of the North in Britain.
Speaking at the annual Fianna Fáil Arbour Hill commemoration, in Dublin, Mr Ahern said that the book of Irish history was stained with blood, pain and division.
"We know that there continues to be dangerous dissident groups who simply have not got the message, or who have chosen to ignore the message, that their ways have no place in the Ireland of today," he added.
"At this extraordinary moment of peace and reconciliation, I appeal to them to extend their hands towards peace."
He expressed the hope that soon there would be "more positive, concrete" moves on behalf of loyalist paramilitaries.
"They too now need to take decisive steps. I have always said that the peace process should leave no one behind," he added.
"For those who genuinely want to leave the past behind, and to share the new future, our hand is outstretched. We have no hidden agenda. No one should feel threatened. The Belfast Agreement has settled the constitutional issue. The principle of consent is accepted and everyone's rights and aspirations are protected in the new democratic institutions."
Mr Ahern said that if returned to power, Fianna Fáil would advance North-South projects such as the Dublin-Derry-Letterkenny dual carriageway, the bridge at Narrow Water and the Ulster Canal.
A North-South innovation fund would be put in place, and funding for the Reconciliation Fund would be significantly increased to improve dialogue between the nationalist and unionist traditions and develop capacity building amongst communities affected by the troubles.
Mr Ahern said his Government would also establish an anti-sectarianism fund to assist projects in interface areas designed to address the cause of sectarianism and to defuse tensions. Mr Ahern recalled he told Dr Ian Paisley that the Government fully supported the idea of a corporation tax reduction for Northern Ireland.
"We understand the issue that this raises for the British government, but radical and innovative moves are needed to transform the North's economy. Corporation tax reform could make a real difference and we hope that it can be achieved," he added.
Mr Ahern said the coming weeks and months would be about building a better future for all.
"May 8th will, I believe, come to be regarded as a hugely significant day. It will open a bright chapter in the history of Ireland," he added.
All sides would have responsibility to fill that chapter with a new vocabulary of hope and expectation. The people of the North deserved no less, he said.
