At a time when extraordinary steps are being taken to build inclusive political institutions in Northern Ireland, we in the Republic find ourselves coming to terms with an increasingly fragmented society. It is an increasingly prosperous society too - but one in which many of those at work cannot afford a roof over their heads; in which apathy about the political system has reached extraordinary levels; and in which new sources of disillusion about the behaviour of the business and financial sector are presented to us daily.
The term `social exclusion' has entered our vocabulary, alerting us to the dangers involved in the creation of a society in which large groups of people feel they have been denied a stake. There is a sense that it is inherently bad for a democratic society to have large pockets of citizens with little or no faith in the wider society and its institutions. Many people are also concerned on the grounds of equity. They do not want a society which is so bent on material progress that those who cannot keep up are disregarded and left behind.
We have seen this in the debate on the taxation measures in the Budget where many people, who are reasonably well paid, wanted the Government to do more for the low paid.
It is easy to assume that the increasing prosperity of the country would result in a growing indifference to the poor and the marginalised. Yet what has emerged, over recent months, is a clear desire that we use resources to create a socially-inclusive society and halt the fragmentation which we see around us.
But is it a realistic objective? The fact is, we have demonstrated that we are able to bring about extraordinary changes in the past decade. The notion of creating a socially-inclusive society is no more farfetched than the notion of full employment or the reversal of emigration - both of which have been achieved in the past few years.
The people want it and the country needs it. It is a project worthy of a people who have known both good days and bad. And with Northern Ireland coming out of the darkness and into the light, it should be seen as the next great challenge, as the national project of our time.