An international design competition is to be launched for a landmark monument to peace the Taoiseach Bertie Ahern revealed today.
If his Fianna Fail party is put back into power this summer for a record third term, Mr Ahern said he would provide €5 million funding for the project in the border area.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern delivers an address at the Plot at Arbour Hill in Dublin today.
He said it was time to leave a symbol of peace to the coming generations. "Fianna Fail, if returned to government, will commission a major international competition to design and construct a landmark peace monument to be located in the border region," he said.
The plan was part of a series of incentives announced by the Taoiseach as he commemorated the 1916 Easter Rising at Arbour Hill cemetery in Dublin.
He said he supported moves to cut Northern Ireland's corporation tax rate. "We understand the issues that this raises for the British Government. But radical and innovative moves are needed to transform the Northern Ireland economy," he said.
"Corporation tax reform could make a real difference and we hope that it can be achieved."
But Mr Ahern also warned about the dangers posed by dissident terror groups and urged them to support the peace process.
"At this extraordinary moment of hope and reconciliation, I appeal to them to extend their hands towards peace," he said.
"I hope that soon we will see 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.
"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 Good Friday 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 the €5 million funding will put the project in a par with the Spire on Dublin's O'Connell Street or the Angel of the North in Britain.
"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. 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," he said.
Mr Ahern also outlined a series of other north-south projects being planned including the Bridge at Narrow Water and the Ulster Canal and a North-South innovation fund.