Sinn Fein MEP Mary Lou McDonald today rallied the party to prepare for next year’s local and European elections urging them to become active in every part of the country.
Ms McDonald said the party needed to build alliances and broaden its political appeal and she issued a public invitation for more women to join its ranks.
Speaking at the annual Wolfe Tone commemoration at Bodenstown, she also touched on Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty claiming a better deal could be negotiated.
She added the party had been reinvigorated in the last year and that Republicans were now facing the future with confidence.
"We need to prepare for the electoral contests, which lie ahead," Ms McDonald said. "We need to broaden our political appeal. We need to build alliances. We need to be active in every parish in the country.
"We need more people to join our party. I want to make a particular appeal to women to join our party." The Sinn Fein leadership was left with a lot of soul-searching after last year's widely anticipated breakthrough in the general election failed to materialise.
But as the only Dail party to oppose the Lisbon Treaty it received a boost when the electorate rejected the controversial document just over a week ago.
Ms McDonald said that if the political will existed a better deal could now be thrashed out for not only Ireland but all of Europe.
"Earlier this week we submitted a set of clear cut deliverables that could be achieved through renegotiation," she said. "We will continue to play a constructive role in the renegotiation process." She added the party had undergone a significant reorganisation and renewal in the last year and that Republicans were facing the future with confidence.
Touching on politics in Northern Ireland Ms McDonald said outstanding issues such as the Irish Language Act could be resolved if First Minister Peter Robinson showed political leadership.
"But let me be very clear. The rights and entitlements of citizens cannot and will not be subject to the whims of the most right wing or reactionary voice within political unionism," she warned.
"We will simply not allow it.