The following is an edited version of the speech given to the Fianna Fáil ardfheis by Mr Bertie Ahern on Saturday.
This is our last ardfheis before the election. An election which will decide Ireland's path and Ireland's direction in the years ahead.
During the longest and most stable government that this nation has seen in peacetime, during the longest and most spectacular economic growth that this nation has ever seen in its history, we have met the challenge with courage and with confidence.
Peace has been won and is being sustained.
Employment has been massively increased and emigration from these shores has ended.
Poverty is being tackled, and social progress is being achieved.
Taxes have been cut and living standards have risen.
And, after years of neglect, public services are being improved across the board.
While there is still a lot to do, we are rapidly forging a new future for our country. And tonight I say to all the people of Ireland - together, let's finish the job.
For too long, the Irish people voted for one set of policies and got another. Just under five years ago, we put together an ambitious programme. We said plainly and we said boldly that we would cut unemployment, cut taxes, cut crime, and work for peace.
Our mandate is now almost complete and the people now ask us to account for ourselves. I say, look at our record.
We have implemented policies that have led to the unprecedented creation of over 370,000 new jobs. Today, over 1.7 million people are working in Ireland.
In 1997 long-term unemployment was 86,000. I can report to you tonight that it is now under 22,000. Fianna Fáil has always believed that jobs are the best social policy. Now, finally we are ending the two-tier society in Ireland - of those who had jobs and those who had no jobs.
And what of our pledge to cut taxes? We said we would reduce the standard rate from 26 per cent to 20 per cent, and we have. We have cut tax rates by 12 points in all. We have provided more in personal tax reductions than any other Irish government ever. We have removed 380,000 taxpayers from the tax net - beating the record of the Rainbow Coalition tenfold.
We promised to cut crime by getting tough on criminals. We have done just that. Crime has fallen by 27 per cent - to the lowest level in 20 years.
This Government has put more Gardaí onto the streets than ever before. Twelve hundred more than in 1997 will be there by the end of this year. And we have built 1,200 new prison places to make sure that the revolving door that we found wide open remains slammed shut.
We pledged to work for peace and we have given our all to that cause. The people of this island, North and South, voted overwhelmingly for the Good Friday agreement and gave their support for a new departure on our island - based on equality, tolerance, mutual respect and a firm resolve to heal a society that for so long has been ravaged by bitterness and violence. Four central pledges given to the Irish people five years ago. Four central pledges fulfilled. Fulfilled by a stable, efficient, and hard-working government. And I salute the Tánaiste, Mary Harney; our partners in government, the Progressive Democrats; and the few Independent TDs who have worked with us to achieve our great goals.
Our opponents, of course, look at our work and just beat the old political drum. In the face of all the facts, they claim we have squandered our term in office, that we have let Ireland slide.
So let me ask you, as I will ask the Irish people in the months ahead: Do you think that helping to create over 370,000 new jobs was a squandered opportunity? Do you think that trebling child benefit was a squandered opportunity? Do you think that increasing old age pensions by almost 50 per cent was a squandered opportunity? Do you think that lifting well over 200,000 people out of consistent poverty was a squandered opportunity? Do you think that being the first Government ever to put money away for future pensions was a squandered opportunity? Do you think that the largest tax cut in our history was a squandered opportunity? We have seized the opportunity to fund a hugely ambitious National Development Plan out of our own resources.
We want to build a world-class infrastructure, so that our citizens and business can compete and win in the global economy.
We have seized the opportunity to increase funding for schools by two-thirds. To employ over 4,000 new teachers and to reduce primary class sizes to their lowest-ever level.
Funding to sport and the arts is being delivered at a level undreamt of even a few short years ago.
The fact is we have spent the money well. And there have been no half-baked proposals like refunding Eircom shareholders from the public purse.
In the last election we promised to put people before politics. In Government we put people before politics when we set out to restore public confidence in political life. In this Republic, political office is the highest public honour any citizen can achieve. And political office must be above reproach.
The uncovering of a previously hidden and unacceptable past in our political life undermined confidence in politics and politicians.
This Government's response has been to initiate the most far-reaching enquiries, not only in the history of this State, but also in the recent history of most democratic countries.
Through the tribunals the facts are being established and the truth is being found out.
Through the unprecedented legislation introduced by this Government, we are applying the lessons learnt.
In the life of this Government we have totally and radically overhauled the legislative basis for public affairs in Ireland. We have enacted one of the strictest regulatory regimes anywhere. We have laid the foundations for a new beginning in Irish public life.
That is our record in five years - prosperity, progress and peace. And all of us here can be proud to run on that record in the next election.
But what about the alternative? At a time when stability, continuity and purpose are so vital to our economy, why would anyone speculate about forming a government where instability is inbuilt? A Government where the office of Taoiseach will be won with a game of musical chairs. This election should focus on a great, honest, and open debate about not just policies, but about the capacity to move this country forward.
And when it comes to policies the difference between our record of success and their record, ranging from the indifferent to the disastrous, could not be clearer. Their vision is back to the bad old days. The bad old days called the 1980s.
Their formula is to raise taxes! Raise taxes, reduce revenue, deter investment and destroy jobs. That Rainbow idea is not acceptable and would bring a dark cloud over the entire Irish economy.
The Rainbow would take Ireland back to the days of massive public borrowing, higher taxes, revolving prison doors, privatised health care, and inadequate pensions.
They would take Ireland back to where they left it. In 1986, the year before Fianna Fáil came back into office, Ireland had a higher debt per head than Ethiopia or Sudan. Over 30,000 people were leaving Ireland every year. Unemployment was a quarter of a million. The Irish people have agreed that we never want to go back, to their policies of bust and borrowing.
We have come too far as a country to turn back now. And I'm here tonight to tell you that Ireland will not go back. Not now, not ever.
We in Fianna Fáil will go to the people of Ireland and we will ask for their votes not just because our opponents' policies are flawed and their record is one of failure, but because we propose to achieve more, to do better and to strengthen the prosperity, progress and peace of the past five years.
On the central issue of prosperity, we will hold to the course of stability, responsibility, and low taxes.
Spending will be on a tight rein because the worst thing we could do in a time of economic downturn around the world is to impose job-killing taxes on individuals and businesses.
But our vision of prosperity goes beyond just economic growth; it reaches out to those who live at the margins of our society. That is why we introduced the highest minimum wage in Europe. That is why over 90 per cent of the entire minimum wage is free of tax.
And there is another point in which we can take pride - the EU has commended us for having the lowest tax on low pay of any country in Europe. And in our next term, we will invest in new social policies so that all our people can enter the circle of opportunity - because when those who have been left out are brought in, all of us will be better off.
On return to Government, I intend to establish a unified Department of Transport. The national roads programme and public transport will be brought together. Investment in all forms of transport will far exceed anything experienced in the past. The new Department of Transport, building on the foundations already laid down, will be charged with delivering on target our already ambitious plans. It will also develop new innovative solutions for the future.
We will end congestion by the end of this decade. That is our commitment.
And prosperity in the future will depend on our ability to change with a changing world. In the 21st century Ireland faces a new challenge.
It is the challenge to adapt to the Information Age.
That's why I am determined to implement a new and even more ambitious programme - we will roll out a national broadband network so that every community will have access to high-speed connections to the rest of the world.
We will deliver e-Government to our people - providing online all Government services, including central Government, local Government, health, education and the social services. Giving citizens direct access to all public services from their homes and communities.
We will continue to invest in research so that Ireland will be a world leader in every stage of developing new products.
Building up prosperity for all - that is our pledge.
On the issue of crime, we dealt with organised crime. We dealt with the drug barons.
Those who thought they were untouchable have been reached and sent away as a consequence of Fianna Fáil's crime policies over the past five years.
We will put more Gardaí on the streets and more criminals in jail. We will seek even tougher penalties for violent criminals, and we will provide more direct intervention for offenders who appear to be on the road to violent crime. Now is not the time to let up.
In Government we will complete our programme of prison building and expand the Garda Síochána by a further 2,000 to an all-time high of 14,000.
The people must have confidence in our Gardaí. Recent events have hurt the good name of a brave body of public servants.
By inquiring into these events and by learning the lessons that are to be learnt we will ensure that the force is stronger for the future.
The Gardaí are in the front line against criminals. They deserve and will get the resources they need to prosecute the fight against crime effectively.
As further measures Fianna Fáil will introduce a Proceeds of Corruption Act modelled on the Proceeds of Crime legislation, to further target white-collar crime and corruption.
Fianna Fáil will provide for the compulsory drugs-testing of prisoners.
Drug dealers will be required to register with Gardaí after leaving prison.
And pubs and off-licences that sell alcohol to under-18s will continue to be prosecuted and closed down.
In addition to putting more Gardaí on our streets, we are publishing new legislation to ensure that those who engage in violent and anti-social behaviour are dealt with quickly and effectively.
There is another area where we must crackdown - and that's in the area of drink driving. Death and serious injury as a result of drink driving are devastating tragedies, felt by too many families. That is why we will introduce a points system, which will compel drivers to be careful if they want to stay on the road.
Over the next five years, we will implement our new health strategy to deliver world-class healthcare for all. It is a programme of investment and reform, which will be felt in every community in our country.
The largest building and refurbishment programme in the history of the State will develop and renew facilities. It will include the creation of 3,000 news beds in our hospitals. 12,000 new health professionals will be hired and these will be additional to the 4,000 extra already hired under this Government.
The ongoing reorganisation of key services will ensure that we first reduce and then permanently end waiting lists for hospital treatments.
We will let others pretend that there are quick fixes. Our commitment to health is a reality already demonstrated by a doubling of health funding in the course of this Government, with the largest ever expansion of health services well underway.
There is a lot more to do on education. I am proud of what we have achieved since 1997. Investment in education has increased by 70 per cent. Building and renovating schools, hiring new teachers, reducing class sizes, increasing school funding, creating over 15,000 new third-level places - this has been our work for the last five years.
Over the next five years we will go further. We will invest in developing all levels of education, from pre-school to advanced research. We will give clear priority to expanding educational opportunity, while also underpinning and developing the system as a whole.
Fianna Fáil will continue to create more teaching posts and will introduce new maximum class guidelines, making sure that we target junior classes where they can have the biggest impact in giving children a strong start.
Having put in place the largest building and renovation programme in the history of Irish education, we will go further - surveying every school and working to ensure that every child can attend school in facilities of the highest standard.
It is our commitment that every Irish child should have the opportunity to develop their God-given talents.
Whether it is on the sports field or on the stage, through poetry or music or field sports, we believe that talent should be nurtured.
Fianna Fáil will honour our most talented people by marking the first 100 years of the Abbey, our National Theatre, by building a new facility and provide a fitting stage for our playwrights, actors and poets in the 21st century.
Marking the first 50 years of the Wexford Opera Festival by providing for the first time, a facility worthy of one of the finest opera festivals of its kind in the world.
And building a national sports stadium where the talented young people nurtured on sports fields in communities across our country can fulfil their dreams at home in Ireland.
On pensions, there is a lot more to do, and we will not rest on the remarkable record of this Government.
To secure the dignity and security of the elderly, we will continue to increase the pension again, and again, and again.
For the future, we will set a new minimum benchmark of €200 per week to make sure that all our older people have the support they deserve. This is the very least we will do. And, for the spouse in the home, we will pay a "homemaker's pension" at the full old age non-contributory pension rate.
Already we have put aside over €7 billion in the National Pensions Fund to meet the costs of pensions in the future.
The opposition parties want to raid that fund and put at risk our future pensions. Fianna Fáil will not do that. We will not consider it. Even when the Government's budget is tight, we should not turn away from our great responsibility to provide for those who will need pensions in future years.
Our fundamental challenge over the next five years must be to secure and consolidate a lasting peace in Northern Ireland. We need to end any uncertainty over the future of the Agreement, and work to improve the atmosphere between the communities.
It cannot be right that people professing the Christian faith should need to be segregated by high walls from each other for their own safety. The Good Friday agreement proclaims "the right to freedom from sectarian harassment".
Fianna Fáil will always work for better more civilised relations on this island. We ask that others should do the same.
Tonight I would appeal to loyalists to have more confidence in their future, and to look constructively at the possibilities of partnership. We in Fianna Fáil will not be found wanting.
It is the mature Republican tradition of Fianna Fáil that points the way forward .
To borrow a phrase, we need a kinder, gentler Republicanism. The politics of confrontation, the politics of street protest, the politics of non-cooperation with the new Police Service of Northern Ireland, the politics of slow progress in putting weapons beyond use, is the kind of politics that places the future stability of the Agreement and the cross-community consent needed to sustain it, under some continuing strain.
We in Fianna Fáil will continue to encourage former revolutionary parties to complete their transformation sooner rather than later - to become strictly democratic ones with no military wings.
Both in Europe and at home, Fianna Fáil is as strongly committed as ever to rural Ireland. We want our rural communities to prosper and to grow. Our rural communities can only survive if we diversify our rural economy and provide a greater choice of non-agricultural related employment in rural society.
I am making a commitment tonight to the people of Ireland that Fianna Fáil is committed to the radical development of rural Ireland.
We believe that those who work in the countryside should have the opportunity to live in the countryside. I believe that we can create diverse employment opportunities and make them available to rural communities.
Fianna Fáil is also committed to implementing a radical programme to protect and develop the education and service infrastructure of rural Ireland.
And I, once again, reiterate the commitment of Fianna Fáil to radical decentralisation and localisation of services. On re-election this programme will be pursued vigorously early in the life of the new government.
At the beginning of a new century a new future is within our reach.
It is a future of unprecedented possibility.
It is a future of peace for all on this island and of prosperity for all of our people.
It is a future built on firm foundations and measurable progress.
Through painstaking negotiations we have laid the foundations of reconciliation and justice between the communities in Northern Ireland.
On these foundations we can and we will build a lasting peace.
We have laid the foundations for lasting prosperity as well.
Taxes have been cut. Employment has been increased. Our economy is strong. With leadership it will grow even more strongly in the future.
But a brilliant future will not happen by chance. We must seize each opportunity.
The choice for Ireland in the coming election is a momentous one.
A choice that will determine the course for our country and the future path for our people.
Ireland needs a vision. A vision that is bold.
Ireland needs government that is capable.
Ireland needs leadership that is confident and committed.
Fianna Fáil is that government.
Fianna Fáil is working for Ireland.
Fianna Fáil is delivering for all our people.
Uniquely in Ireland's history it has been given to us, to this generation, to realise our potential.
And we are only beginning to achieve that full potential.
Only beginning to take our place among the nations of the earth.
The future is ours to shape.
And the opportunity will shortly come when, with confidence, we can make the choice for peace, for prosperity and for progress.
And so with a lot done and a lot more to do - together, let's finish the job.